Living Arrangement
by RandomCamaro
Summary: "Harvey, I'm serious. I can't force you to do anything, but please at least think about it." During their student days, Mike asks his best friend Harvey to move in with him and his two roommates. How will it turn out when Harvey, Mike, Donna and Rachel live together? [Darvey AU]
1. Decision

**Hey! First of all, thank you for giving this story a shot. I've changed my mind about whether I should post it or not about a hundred times, but then I finally decided to just do it.  
It's my first attempt of writing a story, and English isn't my first language, so I apologize for spelling and grammar mistakes (though I hope I already found most of them).  
And I'd really appreciate reviews (all your thoughts and any kind of feedback) so I can learn from my mistakes and try to improve. But now enjoy :) **

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing, but sometimes it feels like the show owns me.**_

* * *

 **Chapter 1 - Decision**

"Oh, come on, old man!" he heard the voice a little behind him. Although he almost ran out of class and tried to outpace him, his friend was just to tenacious and persistent to let go and kept pace with him. He closed his eyes with a heavy sigh, halted his movements and turned around to confront his friend.

"Mike, I've already told you like a thousand times: I don't know yet if I have to move out from home or if I can still stay. And even in case I really have to leave, why do you think I'd move in with you? It's not like it's easy to have you around all day at university, and I doubt that you're any less pain in the ass at home than you are here, so -" He couldn't finish his sentence because Mike cut in.

"Harvey. This is really important. Damn, if you want me to I'd even beg you on my knees." Hearing and seeing his friend so desperate, Harvey couldn't help but smirk, and he raised an eyebrow.

Mike saw the look on Harvey's face and and opened his mouth again to continue his speech only to shut it again.  
"Okay, maybe I sounded a little bit too desperate with that," he admitted slowly, narrowing his eyes a little. Harvey stifled a laugh and tried to come across as serious as possible. "No Mike, absolutely not. You should practice this more often, maybe someday it can be useful to appear with such blank despair."

Now not able to hide his amused expression anymore, Harvey grinned at his colleague who was now pressing his lips together and more or less playfully punched him on the shoulder.

"Ouch! That's my bad shoulder and you know that!" Harvey exclaimed with a hint of anger and pain in his voice while he was holding his shoulder.  
This time it was Mike's turn to grin, although at least he did it with a twinge of regret and a slightly apologetic expression.

"Well, maybe I'm a little sorry, but you deserved it nevertheless!" Mike started the attempt of an apology, still pouting about being accused of being hopelessly frantic. Then he went back to an earnest manner and looked his friend straight in the eye.

"Harvey, I'm serious. I can't force you to do anything, but please at least think about it. I really don't want to live alone with two women in an apartment, and if I don't find an alternative for our last tenant, the two might come up with the _really-not-so-amazing_ idea to find another girl as a roommate. And I promise you, I wouldn't survive with three of them!"

Carefully listening to his friend's words, Harvey took some time to let them sink in, and finally he gave in. "Fine, I'll think about it. But I don't promise anything further!" He could almost sense Mike's relief and saw the corners of his mouth move up a bit.  
Then he remembered a part of their conversation he still wanted to comment on. "And for the record: Only because you're such a genius and smart ass and were able to skip like 3 years, don't you dare ever call me old again! You're not that much younger."

Mike obviously heard the hidden threat in those words and also recognized the warning look on Harvey's face, not to mention the finger Harvey was pointing at him with. But he wasn't able to restrain himself from letting a "Yes, Sir!" escape from his lips.

Harvey had already walked away a few steps but at this words he abruptly turned on his heel and looked daggers at the smaller male. Said person gave him an apologetical smile and almost ran away as fast as possible, disappearing in the crowd of students surrounding them.

Now finally left alone, he sighed again and ran his fingers through his hair. He hadn't been a hundred percent honest with Mike, he had never actually thought about moving out. Until now he had never really considered looking for a residence nearby the campus because he didn't live that far away and it just wasn't on the table. Admittedly, his parents had asked him once if he wanted to move out but then never spoke of it again.  
But given the fact that the current situation at home was more than a bit tensed and difficult, he could really use some distance from his family. Moreover, he already had a side job at a law firm, so the financial aspect would also be manageable.  
Therefore, the only thing remaining to deal with before fixing his decision was convincing his parents of this plan. He sighed one last time before he set off to drive home for this day.

—

At first he wasn't exactly sure about how he should approach the topic of him wanting to move out, but then during dinner he decided to just raise the subject. Surprisingly, his parents both took it calmly and assured him that it was quite a good idea. They told him that only recently had discussed that, in one of the rare moments they didn't fight or ignore each other. And even his little brother Marcus, who at first was a bit taken aback and stared at him with big teary eyes, ultimately grinned at him and promised him to visit him now and then in his new home.

Later that evening, when he was back in his room, he took his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found the right one.

"Please tell me you decided to move in, these two will eventually drive me crazy or kill me if I don't get some non-female backup!" The person at the other end of the line didn't even bother to say hello but started right away with the conversation.

Although he knew that no one was able to see it, Harvey raised an eyebrow before he answered.  
"Mike, do you think I called you because I like hearing your voice and listening to one of your endless speeches?"

"No, I don't think that. But I know that you sometimes - and by sometimes I mean very often - seem to do something nice, but eventually it turns out that the very opposite is the case."

Harvey suppressed a laugh by biting his lip before he continued. "Seriously? You're still mad at me for that? In my defense, I think she honestly had wanted to go out with you before you brought me as your wingman to ask her out, and it really isn't my fault that she changed her mind for my benefit. If anything, it was your fault, I mean everyone knows to never have a wingman that looks better than yourself." At the end of his sentence he already had a big grin all over his face because he was well aware of how much Mike hated it when he brought that up.

He could almost see Mike rolling his eyes, and he heard a loud sigh.  
"Man, sometimes I ask myself how we became friends and why we still are."

"Don't worry, you're not the only one who wonders about that!" Harvey laughed. He paused a little before he started with the reason why he originally had called.

"Well, but back to more important topics. As a matter of fact, I'm indeed calling to talk with you about the apartment. I wanted to tell you that I thought about it and that I've come to a decision."

"And?" Mike inhaled sharply and wasn't sure if he was ready to hear the answer to that question.

"If you promise me that I won't hear you complaining about anything every day, I'll move in with you."

"YES!" Mike whooped, "Thanks Harvey, that means a lot to me. I owe you one!"

"Don't promise anything you can't keep," Harvey sneered, and then added, "but I mean, I can't let those two girls make you feel uncomfortable. I still need you for our group works and our exercises, and I need you sane and without any damages."

"Wow Harvey, I'm quite impressed. Your speech was so emotional and touching, it made me feel so sentimental. I have no words for that," Mike answered dryly.

"I was trying really hard, I'm glad you liked it," his friend joked before changing the subject again. "Anyway, I don't think you ever told me, so what are the names of your roommates? Do I know them?"

"Oh right, I always talked about the flat itself and not your future fellow inmates. Well, I think you only know one of them, Rachel Zane. She also studies law, so I guess you must've at least seen her at some point."

"Yeah right, I think I know her. Dark brown hair, olive skin, Robert Zane's daughter?"

"Yup, that's her."

"What about the other one?"

"That's Donna. Donna Paulsen. I don't know that much about her, but she's a good friend of Rachel, studies acting, and she also is the one who's been living in the flat the longest.

"Okay, well, I'm pretty sure I don't know her, but at least I know their names now," Harvey mused. "Can I come and visit you at some point? I know, I've already been to your place once and you've showed me like a ton of pictures during your first week in and couldn't stop describing how awesome it is. But I'd like to see it with my own eyes again."

"Sure, no problem," he assured, "Though I hope you still want to move in afterwards, sometimes it can be a little messy in here."

"Well, considering how my room looks most of the time I don't think that this would be a reason for me to change my mind about moving in," Harvey appeased with laugh.

"Yeah right," his friend chuckled, "I almost forgot that."

"I doubt that you ever forget anything with your photographic memory, unless you're getting old", Harvey teased him.

He only got a deep sigh for an answer. "Okay, I think we're done for today. What about we end our conversation right here and you come and visit your future home on Friday?"

"Sounds like a decent offer," Harvey agreed with a nod.

"Great, then it's settled."

Harvey was about to hang up when he heard his friend starting to talk once again.  
"And Harvey?" Mike's voices sounding like a warning, "Please don't ruin everything by sleeping with either of them."

"What?!" he exclaimed bewildered and shot his head up, "Why the hell would think that I -" He stopped in mid-sentence because Mike had already hung up.

"Damn Mike, what is even wrong with you," Harvey murmured to himself. With a shake of his head he put his phone away and laid down on his bed. He exhaled audibly and stared at the ceiling, thinking about Mike's last comment.  
He was well aware of the fact that he was notorious for getting around in the women's world quite a lot, but probably nobody knew that deep inside that wasn't exactly what he wanted to continue doing forever. On the one hand, he liked being coveted by the girls and envied by the guys but on the other hand he realized that this wasn't exactly the only main goal he wanted to achieve in his life.

Especially in this current case he didn't want to screw anything up, like he normally - or at least quite often - managed to do, because right now he almost couldn't wait to move out, away from his parents and their seemingly endless fighting. And he was pretty sure that having a fling with one of the flat mates would _definitely_ fall into the categories **big screw-up** and **huge and stupid mistake** , so that was something he absolutely wanted to avoid.

He knew that Mike still had sort of a trauma of what had happened a few months ago. That girl that initially wanted to go out with Mike, but then the genius thought it would be a good idea to bring his best friend with him. Long story short, at the end of the evening this girl had decided to choose Harvey over her initial date, Mike. And the latter had never utterly been over this whole story.  
He still couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of that, this story was probably going to be stuck in his mind forever. And though he was - at least sort of - sorry, he would never get tired of teasing Mike with it.

—

On Friday, Harvey stood in front of the white door and caught a breath, before he lifted his finger to press the doorbell. A few seconds later, a familiar face with a wide grin opened the door and greeted him with a blunt "You're late".

Harvey knitted his brows and glanced at the watch on his wrist. "Yeah, I'm like 30 seconds late, sorry for that."

"Oh, no problem, I get it. I mean, it's not like you're getting any younger, I understand. Must've been quite exhausting for you to get here. Such a distance, in your age!" Mike mocked his friend and feigned a worried look on his face.

"Alright, that's enough!" Harvey laughed, "Don't you think your joke is already getting a bit old?"

His counterpart smirked at this word choice and retorted, "The only one who's getting old here is you."

"Well, I guess there's no point with arguing with you about that right now, you just wouldn't listen, would you?"

"Nope," Mike answered, still having a shit eating grin plastered all over his face.

This time it was Harvey who let out a sigh. "Okay, now that we've agreed on this can I finally come in and -" He started but couldn't finish his sentence because a brunette appearing behind Mike interrupted him.

"Guys, your chitchat is _really_ adorable, but would you mind to finally step inside and continue your apparently _very_ meaningful conversation here?"

Mike blushed and turned around to her. "Uh, sorry, we were just, um, -" he stammered.

Her face softened and her lips curled up a bit. "Never mind, Mike," she took a few steps forward to the two men standing in the door frame, her look fixed on the younger one of them, "I was just wondering how long it would take you guys to finish."  
After letting her eyes rest on Mike for maybe a second longer than it usually would have been necessary in that scenario, she averted them to the other man who was still standing outside, walked towards him and stretched out her hand. "Hi, I'm Rachel. And considering the weirdness of your conversation you must be the infamous Harvey Specter."

Harvey took her hand and shook it. "Yeah, that's me. Though I'd probably debate the 'infamous'. I mean I don't know what this guy over here," he nodded in Mike's direction, "told you about me, but I guess I'm not always as bad as he may describe me."

"Oh, don't worry, he mostly only tells good things about you," she chuckled at his words, "this was just because of what I get to know about you from my fellow students. Mostly the female ones." She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows with an amused smirk.

"Oh," he just stated, feeling slightly awkward and suddenly a bit uncomfortable in her presence, and raked his hand through his hair with an apologetic expression on his face.

"But don't worry," she added, "I don't really care about who you're seeing, as long as we get along well and you don't bug me I think we won't have a problem with living with each other."

Harvey smiled and exhaled relieved. The first confrontation with the one of the two people he was going to get to know today went quite well. And he was pretty sure that he wouldn't have a problem to get along with Rachel, he liked her.  
And given the fact how he acted around her, Mike also liked her. Maybe a bit more than he should like his co-tenant.  
He inwardly grinned about this observation and made a mental note that he had to rag Mike with that.

—

Though Harvey already basically knew the apartment, it took Mike about half an hour to show him around. The fact that the apartment was quite big wasn't the only reason it took so long, Mike just couldn't stop talking. Apparently, he was totally excited that his best friend would move in with him, and it was obvious that he was quite proud to tell him every single detail about literally everything in the apartment.

Harvey would never admit that to Mike, but he merely listened to half of his stories. While his friend was talking, he let his look roam through the dwelling.

After the living room, the bathroom and the kitchen, which was actually not separated from the living room but sort of a part of it, they finally came to the individual rooms. There were four doors, one of them opened widely, one of them half opened and two of them were shut.

Firstly, Mike showed Harvey his future room, the one with the completely opened door. Not much was to see in there because it was totally empty, but they took a quick look at it in spite of that fact. Next, they entered Mike's room so that Harvey also saw a fully furnished room and didn't have to leave everything to his imagination.

"The rooms are all basically the same, so yours is probably going to look quite similar with all your furnishing," Mike continued talking.

Harvey just nodded and took another look around. The room wasn't too big but he liked the way Mike had everything arranged. And between all the pieces of furniture there was still enough space to move around freely.

Back in the hall, Harvey glanced at the two remaining doors. Just then he realized that one of them had something on it.

"Is there a reason why this one has '206' on it?" he asked astonished and pointed at one of the doors with his forehead slightly creased.

"Honestly, I don't really know if there's a deeper meaning behind it," Mike frowned for a second and before he chortled. "I never asked Donna about it. It has always been there since I moved in, but maybe Rachel knows something."

"Oh don't worry, it's not really important, I was just wondering," Harvey chuckled and shook his head. "By the way, where's Donna anyway? I haven't seen her, I thought all three of you would be here today?"

"Yeah, about that..." Mike began and ran his hand through his hair, "She told us in the morning that she won't be able to make it today. But she said that she doesn't really care about who moves in, as long as he isn't - I quote - _'a complete moron like the last one'_. So I guess she trusts mine and Rachel's judgment to decide whether you're worthy or not."

"Wow, so if I'm allowed to move in I'm supposed to take that as a compliment? That I'm not a complete idiot?" Harvey asked dryly with an arched eyebrow.

A laugh escaped Mike before he was ready to answer. "I don't know, maybe you should ask her yourself when you see her. But I wouldn't attach too much importance to her statement. I don't know exactly what happened between the previous tenant and her, but I know that it didn't end that well for him."

"So actually the bar isn't set very high?" Harvey asked with a chuckle.

"Well, for you it still could be a challenge," Mike grinned, "I'm only gonna say yes if you don't behave like a dick like you usually do."

"Oh please," his friend countered teasingly, not taking his friend's comment as an insult, "as if you'd want anyone else to move in with you. Or anyone else could put up with you."

"Right," the younger man laughed, "you're probably not wrong." Then he turned more earnest again. "But seriously Harvey, I'm really glad you decided to move in here."

Harvey smiled at his friend. "I'm glad, too."

"I think this can actually work. And it's going to be fun." Mike grinned, and Harvey couldn't help but respond with a similar expression.  
They both were clear about the fact that things wouldn't always go like they probably expect or want them to go. But even though it wasn't always going to be easy, they also knew that they'd get through everything, just like they always did.

The two guys didn't notice that Rachel was watching them from the living room. Her lips turned up at the sight of the two of them interacting with each other the way they did, and she shook her head a little. She had only gotten to know Harvey recently, but she could already see that despite - or more likely because of - their ribbings, his friendship with Mike was really close. And Mike undoubtedly burgeoned when he was around his friend.

A warm feeling flowed through her body when she thought about how excited and happy Mike had seemed when he first told her and Donna that he had a potential new roommate for their apartment.  
Admittedly, she had had her doubts at first because she knew Harvey's reputation. But now that she had met him and had seen him with Mike, she was willing to connive at that fact, and to believe that this could work and actually turn out not be as bad as she had assumed in the first place.

The only thing that still fretted her a bit was what Donna would think about Harvey. She knew that the redhead trusted her discernment, especially when it comes to people. But she also knew that he was the kind of guy who was likely to cause trouble. And if he was only half as obstinate as she thought he was, the interactions between Donna and Harvey could become quite interesting and fun to watch and listen.

But for the moment, she faded those thoughts out and allowed herself to focus on the fact that soon they were going to have a new member in their household.

* * *

 **I'm sorry if the scene where Harvey talked to his family was a bit short, but I didn't want to focus too much on them.  
And it's probably not really relevant (maybe a bit later in the story but even then only a little), but in this story Harvey doesn't have his issues with his mother.**

 **I know I said it before, but thanks for reading, and let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate any kind of feedback :)  
And depending on the response to this first chapter I'll upload the next chapter (that will also include Donna and Harvey interactions) in the next few days or so (the first 4 chapters are already finished).**


	2. Meeting Roommates

**WOW, I'm overwhelmed, I don't know what to say! Thank you so much for all your kind reviews, and also the favs and follows! They all really mean a lot to me, I'm glad you like this story so far.  
But now to probably more interesting matters for you: here is the second part.** **(I may or may not have** **borrowed some small quotes from the series for this chapter, mostly in a different context but I think you'll notice.) I hope you enjoy! :)  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Meeting Roommates**

With a faint smile on his face, Harvey stood in front of the door and let the image in front of him sink in. This was going to be his home. He knew that this wouldn't be forever but it felt good to finally make the first step in creating a life on his own.

After a few seconds, he finally took the key Mike had given to him a few weeks earlier and put it in the door lock. He pushed the door open with his shoulder, both of his hands full with either a bag or a suitcase. Closing the door behind him, he left his luggage in the middle of the living room and took a look around in the apartment.

He had already brought his furniture a few weeks ago, and though his parents offered to accompany him today, he declined because he wanted to be alone on this day. When he officially moved in his new home.

Slowly he walked around and glanced at all the closed doors, knowing each of them led to the room of one of his co-tenants. Only one of the doors was left ajar, he knew it was his room, and he walked towards it to push it fully open. He had to admit that he was quite satisfied with how the furniture was arranged. The room wasn't that big, and he didn't have a lot of things to bring with him, but his king-size bed as well as his desk and the wardrobe fit in. Some shelves on the wall were still waiting for him to fill them with books, but he was sure it wouldn't be long until he spread his things all over the room.

Then he remembered his stuff was still standing in the living room, and although Mike told him that no one was going to be here on that day, he didn't want to start his first day with the mess he assumed he was going to have and make in a few months or even weeks.  
He placed the suitcase and the two bags in his room and shortly thought about unpacking immediately, but then remembered there was the balcony he hadn't visited until now. And though he knew that he had to unpack at some point, the balcony sounded much more appealing at the very moment.

Pacing through the flat and letting his look wander over the modern furnishing on his way, he reached the balcony door, slid it open and stepped outside. Taking a deep breath, he enjoyed the warm breeze on his face. He had to admit, the air was full of fumes but he liked it nevertheless. Harvey leaned his forearms on the railing and savored the breathtaking view over the city.

"Hey, stranger," a sudden voice appeared behind his back and he flinched. He turned around, only to be confronted with an unknown face. He opened his mouth in the attempt to answer but at first he couldn't get out a sound, he only glared her straight into the eyes.

Dark hazel meeting a mix of green and brown for the very first time.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, his look roamed the person in front of him. She was wearing sweatpants and a grey shirt, leaning against the door frame with crossed arms and her head tilted. Auburn locks framing her face, he only now noticed the raised eyebrows, as if she was waiting for something.

' _Right,'_ he remembered, _'I should probably stop standing here like an idiot and start talking.'  
_ It felt like a few minutes have already passed since she had approached him - he had to admit that her appearance had sort of put him a bit off - but it hadn't been much more than a second.

"Hey," he smiled at her, still a bit startled about how quiet she had appeared. He stretched out his hand. "I'm sorry I didn't say hello earlier but I thought all of you guys wouldn't be here when I arrive. I'm -" He tried to introduce himself but couldn't finish his sentence.

"Unless you're a creepy stranger who just broke into our apartment you must be Harvey Specter, I know." She smirked at him and shook his hand.

He grinned back at her, and after maybe a few seconds longer than necessary their hands slowly parted but their eyes still stayed locked. "And you must be Donna."

"Oh, you have no idea how Donna I am," she answered with a puzzling undertone.

Harvey just frowned at her words and looked a bit confused. "Okay, I think I don't really have a clue what exactly you're talking about," he laughed.

Her smirk grew even wider before she answered. "Well, I think you're probably gonna find that out soon, Specter." With that she took a few steps forward and joined him at the balcony handrail, now interrupting their eye contact for the first time.

"Do you also like the view?" she asked him after she got lost in the sight of the city herself.

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing," he agreed with her. Harvey then looked asquint at her and studied her. He couldn't really describe what it was but she drew his attention and he wasn't able to deny that there was something fascinating about her.

After some time she turned her head towards him and perked her eyebrows at the fact he was looking at her. "Okay, when we're already at it," she started and suppressed a laugh by biting her lip.

Interrupted in his thoughts, he almost felt like she caught him in doing something wrong and he winced a little. He looked back straight into her eyes, not exactly sure if he knew what she was talking about. "Huh?"

"It's not like I wouldn't appreciate you staring at me," she began, but he immediately objected, "I wasn't -"  
She raised her eyebrow at his wretched attempt of a protest, and then he admitted, "Okay fine, maybe I was looking at you, but not in a creepy way. And anyway, that doesn't mean -"

"Absolutely. I'm sure your intentions are completely pure." Her facial expression was serious but he could see the sparkle of joy and amusement in her eyes and hear the sarcasm dripping in her voice. "Anyway, what I was going to tell you is... sort of about that."

He knitted his brows and waited for her to continue, not quite sure what to expect. She lifted her eyes from the ground and looked in his inquiring face. After clearing her throat she fumbled around with her hands and finally resumed. "I, uh, have a rule." Suddenly feeling a bit awkward, she tried to remember why she had thought before that it would be good idea to tell him about this right away, only minutes after they met. "I don't get involved with guys that I live with."

She wasn't sure why she had the sudden urge to hide herself behind this. She couldn't quite explain it, but there was something about him different from all the other people, especially guys, she had met before him. A part of her didn't want to shield herself with her rule, but her brain told her to be careful and so she did the opposite of what her subconsciousness wanted to do.

Now it was his turn to raise his eyebrow at her statement, and he changed his countenance from questioning to amused. To be honest with himself he was a bit surprised because he didn't have _that_ in mind at their first meeting - though he had to admit it went slightly different from what he had expected. He sensed that she wasn't one-hundred percent comfortable in her current situation so he decided to ease the tension a bit by not making fun of it but still not be dead serious about it. "As long as you think you can live by your rule yourself," he agreed with a wolfish grin.

A laugh involuntarily escaped from her lips and she rolled her eyes."Oh please, if anybody would fall for anybody, it would be you for me," she teased him.

After a short pause she broached another matter. "Do you even know why your predecessor moved out?"  
Not expecting the conversation to take a completely different direction, Harvey was sort of caught off guard. "Uh, not exactly, but what does that have -"

"He wasn't ready to obey my rule," she cut in. She didn't know why she told him but she somehow wanted to get that off her chest, although he actually still was almost a stranger to her.

He swallowed at the earnestness of her words this time. "Is that supposed to be a warning? Or a threat?" he replied with a half joking question. He didn't exactly know how to react to that, so he tried to ease the tension again, but he wasn't sure if his plan actually worked out. "But I can assure you, I'm really not looking for any kind of trouble. I'm just gonna live here, you'll hardly notice I'm even here." This time his effort to bring the conversation back to safer and more ordinary topics was successful.

"Take it as whatever you want, Specter," she smirked, "but since you mentioned trouble: I have another rule."

"Which one?" He frowned again, not sure what he should expect now.

"Don't even think about coming into my room, especially not without my allowance. If you do so and I find out - and I can tell you that I always figure it out - you're gonna wish you were dead." She said that with a smile but with her eyes being the complete opposite of that. He was pretty sure that she was dead serious and he knew that it would be best if he didn't provoke her in that regard. At least not in their currently very young state of knowing each other.

She then turned around, walked to her room without once looking back at him and shut the door behind her, leaving her conversational partner alone on the balcony.

Harvey still had that almost permanent grin stuck on his face when he averted his look from the brass numbers on the white front of her door and allowed himself to contemplate what had happened since he had arrived in his new home.

The immediate banter with Donna so shortly after they met felt like they've been doing it for months, if not years. And although he'd never admit that to anyone else: he already enjoyed these little playful exchanges, and was curious how they would turn out to be in the future.

He was thankful that he fortunately got along with his roommates so well, at least so far. He had heard many daunting stories from his colleagues and friends. Beforehand, he had been a bit afraid of that it would turn out like in one of those scenarios, like that all of the tenants are on bad terms with each other and fight on a daily base. Or that there would be one who claims to be solely head of the household and orders the other ones around. But here it didn't seem like there was anything alike going on, no rivalries, at most a lot of badinages and repartees.

However, he still wasn't sure what he was supposed to think of her rule, or more precisely her first mentioned rule. He knew that he had promised himself to not screw anything up, and he was extremely determined to keep his word, but there was something about that girl he couldn't quite place. The only thing he knew was that she was probably not going to make it easier for him to stand by his own word.

—

A few days before the end of the summer break, Harvey was lying in his bed and reading a book. Although he had his door closed and his room wasn't exactly next to the entrance of the apartment, he still heard it when a key was turned in the door lock. He lifted his look from the page in front of him and strained his ears, trying to figure out who had just arrived. Since he was currently the only person in the condo it could be anyone of his roommates.

"Anyone home?" When he heard Mike's voice sounding through the apartment, Harvey couldn't help but smile. This was the first time they'd see each other since he had moved in, so this was going to be their first conversation as official roommates. He put his book aside and pushed himself up from his bed to get out of his room and greet his friend.

"Sorry to dash your hopes but looks like you don't have the place all for yourself right now," he grinned at the younger male and slapped on his back.  
"Harvey," was the only thing he stated while he put down his bags, but a smile began to form on his face. "I guess now I really have to get used to having your ass around all day." With those words said his smirk grew wider.

"Looks that way," Harvey replied. "I'd apologize but it was actually you who begged me to come here so..." He let his sentence fade away unfinished, lifted his shoulders and arms to act innocent but the big grin on his face told a completely different story.

"You're never gonna stop underlining that, right?" Mike rolled his eyes.

"I think you know the answer to that question," Harvey only said with a lopsided sneer, head lightly tilted to the right side.

Mike sighed heavily and a small part of him already regretted that he had asked Harvey to move in, but this part was quickly drowned out by his anticipation and excitement about the fact that his best friend was actually going to live in the same apartment as he did.

"So, how's it going so far?" he asked, "Have you met Donna yet?"

"Oh yeah, I did," Harvey chuckled. "Our first meeting was... different than I expected." He was searching for the right words, not exactly sure how he should describe it since he didn't really understand it himself yet.

Mike narrowed his gaze on his best friend. "Please tell me you didn't screw up." The hint of concern in his voice almost inaudible. Almost.

"No! Don't worry," Harvey appeased. "Besides, do you really think I'd be still here if I did? I mean, you know her better than I do, do you believe I'd still be here if she wouldn't let me?"

"Right," Mike mused, "you'd be a dead man by now if you had screwed up like you usually do."

"Thanks Mike, I really appreciate your faith in my abilities," his friend deadpanned with a warning glance. It wasn't like Harvey didn't like their banter but sometimes Mike hit a nerve. And in this particular case he really didn't want to make any mistakes, he was determined to make sure everything was alright and that he didn't mess up this whole still quite new living situation.

Mike noticed the slight change in his friend's countenance and decided to not longer dwell on that particular subject. "Do you know where Donna is? I thought that she and, uh, Rachel would both be here today."

"Donna said that she'd meet Rachel somewhere," Harvey mused, then he paused for a moment, put a mischievous smile on his face and tilted his head. "But I'm pretty sure you're more interested in Rachel's whereabouts."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Mike tried to stay neutral but a blush crept on his cheeks and he finally averted his gaze from his friend. That made Harvey widen his grin but he had the decency to not dig deeper and so he didn't say anything further regarding that topic - for now.

—

In the meantime, the female half of the four roommates had met in a café to catch up since they hadn't seen each other for quite some time, they had only spoken to each other over the phone and texted. After they exchanged some basic chitchat, Rachel couldn't wait any longer to ask her friend about the changes in their living situation.

"So," she dwelled and questioningly raised her eyebrows, "Have you met Harvey yet?" She was interested in what her friend thought about the newest member in their living community, and since she had already met the person in question she wanted to know if everything went well or if anything had already blown up.

Donna finished taking a sip of her cup of coffee before she responded. "Yes, I have."

Her brief and not exactly informative answer wasn't enough to satisfy her friend's curiosity, so the brunette continued giving her a quizzical look. "And? What do you think?"

The redhead sighed because she knew that she couldn't escape this talk any longer, even though she wasn't really in the mood to talk about it right now, her mind still occupied with other thoughts. They also included a guy, but not the one Rachel wanted to talk about in that very moment. But she was quite sure that her friend would also bring up _that_ topic, so right now she was relieved that the presumably more exhausting conversation was delayed a bit and she focused on the current one.

"Harvey's alright. I mean, he probably can be trouble but I think we can handle it," she smiled at her friend. "And you were right, he's not such a moron as..." Her voice broke off, and her gaze landed somewhere in the distance behind Rachel.

The brunette's face softened and turned into a more worried and concerned one. She was one of the few people who knew the full extent of Donna's relationship with their previous roommate, and she knew how it had ended. "Have you spoken to him since your..." She swallowed and left her sentence unfinished, knowing that her friend would know what she was going to say. But she didn't want to be the one who reminded Donna of their last talk - better said fight.

"You mean since that little bastard told me he wanted to be with me, moved out so I didn't have my rule as an 'excuse' and revealed that he moved back to his _girlfriend_ \- after we _dated_ for a couple of weeks?!" Donna scoffed with a forced laugh, trying to hide her hurt behind snarks. "Yes, I met him once at the bar. But fortunately we didn't speak much, he was so drunk that I'm not even sure he remembered who I was."

"I'm so sorry." Rachel covered her friend's hand with her own and squeezed it sympathetically, a compassionate look on her face.

"Thanks, Rachel," Donna returned her focus back on her friend, "but it's not like it's your fault, and I'm sure that soon I'll be over this whole story." She forced a smile and then continued, "And it's also not like I have the intention of making that same mistake again, so..." Donna crooked her head and had a brighter expression on her face than before, trying to get rid of the afflicting thoughts and bring back a lighter mood to the conversation.

Realizing that now the chat was back on a level that allowed teasing again, Rachel decided to give it a shot. "I know," the brunette nodded and dwelled the last word, "that would never happen with Harvey, he's way too little handsome, absolutely not your type, and he also seems like a real ass." Rachel tilted her head, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Donna gave her a withering glance. "You know his reputation as well as I do, and you know his type of guys. Even if he wasn't _living_ with us - and after the last incident I won't make the same mistake to fall for one of my roommates again - he's just not really the guy for something as serious as a relationship," she explained to her friend, knowing that Rachel presumably meant it more jokingly than serious.  
Donna meant the words she said but she also felt sort of strange to talk about having - or better said trying to _not_ have - a relationship with a person she hadn't even known for that long.

Rachel only retorted with her lips pressed to a thin line, the corners of her mouth twitching. She didn't want her best friend to get mad at her for dwelling on that certain subject for too long, so she decided to not say anything further, and not dig deeper. At least for now.

* * *

 **Okay, after this** **I have two more already finished chapters left** ** **(they still need proof-reading though)** , and I'll very likely post them soon. ****In the meantime: as I already said before, I love to hear what you think, so feel free to leave me a review :)  
And a small teaser for the next chapter: It may or may not include a certain kitchen utensil... ;)  
**

 **PS.: I have a question: Would you like me to put little teasers like the one before for the upcoming chapter in each chapter, or would you prefer to not know anything about what comes next?**


	3. Breakfast and Dinner

**Thanks again for all of your reviews! I've never imagined that those little messages can brighten my mood so much, but they truly make my day, I really love all of them! :)  
This chapter is a bit longer than the first ones, but I hope you don't mind. And in order to prevent probable confusion: The long part in italics is a flashback.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - Breakfast and Dinner**

After a few weeks of living together, all four of them were already used to each other. In the beginning Harvey's interactions with them - except the ones with Mike, but he had also contained himself a bit in that regard because he didn't want his two female roommates get a bad picture of him - had still been a bit reserved and more polite, like it was to expect when people are starting to get to know each other.  
Now they were already in the state of teasing each other - admittedly, with Donna he had skipped to that phase in the moment they met for the first time - and they didn't feel like almost strangers anymore but had grown together like a group of friends.

Two of them apparently even more than just friends. Harvey still remembered how his two roommates had told him and Donna about them only shortly after he had moved in.

 _Rachel and Mike behaved differently and suspiciously. Harvey didn't dare to ask what was going on and he also didn't talk to Donna, the only other noninvolved person in their household, either. He sensed that something was different but he decided to not give it too much attention because he assumed that it probably had something to do with him moving in._

 _But they kept acting strange, and he also noticed that Donna sometimes looked at them with a quizzical look but never said anything. After a few days, Mike told Harvey that he had to tell him something in the evening, and apparently Rachel did the same thing with Donna but he didn't know that at this time._

 _Later that day, Donna and Harvey were the first to be home, and they met in the kitchen, waiting for the other two to come home._

 _"Did Mike tell you that he needs to talk to you?" she asked him._

 _He was startled at her question, because she was dead on about it. "He also spoke to you?" he responded with a puzzled counter question._

 _"Jeez, no," she chuckled, "Rachel asked me to be here tonight because she has something important to talk about. And since you're also here, I assumed Mike told you something similar, and I guess it has something to do with them being so weird." She paused a bit before she continued more pointedly. "Or should I say, with them being together?"_

 _His head shot up when he heard her say those words. He looked at her skeptically and incredulously. "Are you serious?"_

 _"Well, I mean I don't know for sure because they haven't told anything so far," she started and shrugged, "but yeah, I'm pretty sure. They're both not exactly subtle with anything and based on their weird behavior..." She let her sentenced fade away, not needing finish it since she knew it would be enough for him to make his own assumptions and connect all the dots._

 _Still looking at her doubtingly, they both heard the key turn around in the lock and then saw their other two roommates step inside, whispering with each other. When they saw Harvey and Donna already standing in the kitchen, they lapsed into silence._

 _They walked over to the two people waiting, confronted with two expectant faces. Mike and Rachel exchanged a glance and swallowed before he began to explain. "So, uhm... guys, we, uh... we need to tell you something," he stuttered more than he talked._

 _"Yeah, you mentioned something like that before," Harvey remarked dryly._

 _Donna tilted her head and looked at him from the side. He noticed it and turned his head to her, only to see that she had a reproachful '_ ** _Seriously_** _' written all over her face. He shrugged apologetically and held up his hands in defense. He knew that sometimes he had the sensitivity of a potato, and he didn't mean to hurt or insult his other two roommates, he just couldn't stand the perpetual back and forth. He just wanted to know what was going on._

 _Finally, Rachel began to speak with a firm voice, "We're together." Contemporary she clutched at Mike's hand._

 _Donnas head instantly turned around to Harvey again and raised her eyebrows, accompanied by a smirk. He could almost hear her voice in his head telling him '_ ** _I told you_** _'. He just rolled his eyes a little and slightly shook his head, then facing the couple again._

 _However, Mike couldn't find any words to say but just dropped his gaze to his feet. He wasn't able to look Harvey in the eye, the talk they had had about not dating roommates still stuck in his brain as if it had been yesterday. After all it had been_ ** _him_** _who told Harvey to keep the hands off his co-tenants. And now it was him who had broken their "agreement". Well, they never actually explicitly agreed on anything, but it was more like a silent bargain._

 _After a few seconds he dared to look at the two people in front of him again, and his look immediately shifted to Harvey. He saw that latter had his eyebrow raised but didn't say anything. It seemed like he was thinking about quite the same thing, but he wasn't stupid enough to broach that in front of the two women._

 _Some more awkward moments of silence followed, until Donna finally interrupted the quiet and went towards her friend, a beam upon her face and arms wide open to hug Rachel. "That's great to hear," she squeezed her friend lightly, "I'm happy for you". Then she turned to Mike, who just got similar congratulations from his friend, with the only difference that Harvey didn't hug Mike but patted his shoulder._

 _"And you better make sure you don't screw up or hurt Rachel. Otherwise I'll make sure you remember what you did and make you regret it every day." She smiled and though her voice was calm, everybody could hear the silent threat that was hidden in this sentence._

 _Mike swallowed under her gaze and was only able to nod slightly. He was kind of scared of Donna in that very moment, but he also knew that he had absolutely no intention of hurting Rachel. So he was relieved that he could admit at least to himself that he had nothing to be scared of._

—

On a Saturday morning, Harvey was standing in the kitchen, wearing grey sweatpants and a black T-shirt. He was occupied with the pan in front of him, and because of the sizzling sound that came from it he didn't hear that one of the doors of his roommates opened and the occupant came out.

"What the hell are you doing?" A croaky and fuzzy voice sounded behind his back and he winced before he abruptly turned his head.

He was surprised to see Donna sitting in front of him at the counter, head underpinned by her right hand and her look was something between quizzical and agonized.

"I, uh, I'm making scrambled eggs," he was finally able to say. "God, you look terrible, what did you do yesterday?"

"Well, thank you. Now I know why you go down so well on all the other girls," she replied humorlessly.

"That's not what I mea-" he tried to defend himself but she cut him off.

"Never mind," she put him off and raised her left hand to signalize him to stop talking. She squeezed her eyes and rubbed her eyelids with the fingers of her right hand. Her head was killing her, and talking and listening seemed so exhausting in her present state. She was glad that she was currently seated and didn't have to stand somewhere, she wasn't sure if she wouldn't fall over if she did.

Harvey watched her motions, shrugged inwardly and decided that it would be best to just leave her alone for a moment. He noticed that something was off, but though he hadn't known her for that long he yet was conscious that it would be of no avail if he pushed her to tell him something. She was that kind of person who only opens up if she wants to, but trying to force her to do anything she didn't want to would be of no use.

So he focused his attention back to the pan with his breakfast in it. Since his meal was finished now, he put some salt and pepper on it to season it. Then he put the scrambled eggs on a plate and scraped the lightly burnt rest off the pan. When he had accomplished his tasks, he turned around and took the few steps to the counter, with a fork in his one, and the plate in the other hand. He put both things on the surface, sat down on one of the chairs and then wanted to begin with his breakfast but Donna had already grabbed his plate and the cutlery and had pulled it over to herself.

He slowly turned his head to his right to be able to fully look at her. "Actually, that was mine," he said reproachfully, but his eyes sparkled of amusement. Now that he finally had the chance to survey her, he realized that she looked like she had a massive hangover. And since he knew too well how that was, he was willing to forgive her that bold move but he still wanted to rag her a bit longer.

She only rolled her eyes in response. "You're so fussy." Then she took a mouthful, and a small moan escaped her lips. He turned his head and looked at her bewilderedly, almost a little shocked, his mouth agape. He wasn't expecting that, and he still wasn't sure what was the reason for her to make that sound - or what he should think about it.

"God, that's really amazing," she then said between two bites and looked at him. She saw his expression, and it dawned on her that the sound she had just uttered was probably a bit misguiding. So she shrugged and tried to defend herself, "I thought it'd be gross because you don't exactly seem like a person who can cook but apparently you _can_." She paused a bit and looked down at the plate in front of her, then reconsidered her previous statement. "At least extremely difficult things like scrambled eggs."

Now it was his turn for sarcasm. "Thanks, I really appreciate that." It almost sounded huffy but he had a grin spread wide across his face that made it impossible to believe he was actually sulky. "But seriously, what did you do to look so wiped out?" he asked with a hint of honest sorrow in his voice, creasing his forehead while talking.

She sighed, not really in the mood to tell him but then she did nevertheless. "Have you ever heard of something called _'work'_?" she asked him scoffingly.

He laughed. "Yeah, but why do you look so hungover then? Is one of your job requirements to be drunk, or what?"

"Not technically," she drawled, "but since I work in a bar it may or may not be that sometimes I drink something during my shift." Again she made a pause between her sentences. "And maybe sometimes we have a drink or two after our shift. And it's not like I get a lot of sleep when one of my roommates decides to wake me up way too early because he's _cooking_." She crooked her eyebrows at her last sentence.

"So you're always drunk when you worked the night before?" he asked with raised eyebrows and a chuckle, deciding to ignore her last remark for the moment.

"Ugh, is this just because I'm not feeling that fit or are you always so pesky?" she groaned and rested her forehead in her hands. She let her hands slide through her hair and then interlaced her fingers in the back of her head, only shortly above the neck.

He lifted his hands and put an apologetic expression on his face. "Sorry, sometimes I come over rather annoying when I don't know a person that long. I didn't mean to insult you."

"So you promise you won't be insufferable anymore when we know each other better?" her question was accompanied by her amused and teasing face with her eyebrow arched.

"I wouldn't exactly put it that way..." he dwelled.

Donna furrowed her brows, not sure what he was getting at. "What are you saying?"

"Well, I just think that you'll just get used to my annoying ass, if you like it or not. And you won't notice that I'm actually really unnerving but believe that I'm a likable person." He emphasized the last two words.

They both stared in each other's eyes for some moments, and eventually they both burst into laughter simultaneously.

"You know, this would sound a lot more convincing if you actually believed it yourself," she remarked with a bright grin on her face. Now her hangover already didn't seem to be as bad as it has been before, her face wasn't so pale anymore and her eyes were sparkling again.  
If she didn't try to persuade herself otherwise, one could actually reckon that it was purely him and the conversation with him that made her feel better, lighter, more relaxed. But that's just what good friends are able to do, right?

"You should come to my bar at some point," she then changed the subject, "and take Rachel and Mike with you. I can't believe they both have actually never been there since I started working there!"

He was surprised by her remark, he had only learned a few minutes ago that she was working at all, but he would have assumed that their other two roommates had already visited her before because it didn't seem like she started her sideline only recently. But it didn't really matter right now so he decided to not ask further but keep up the teasing part of the conversation. "And I can't believe that I didn't even know that you have a job at a bar. Or rather that you even have a side job." He feigned sulkiness. "I thought we're supposed to be friends." Theatrically he placed his hand over his heart and looked at her with his big chocolate-brown - and now pretending to be sad - puppy eyes.

She shook her head at his action but couldn't hide that her lips were curling up. "You're such a jackass, you know that?"

"Yeah, I've already heard that a few times," he grinned widely and wolfishly, now returning to his normal position, "but I've also heard that you have a penchant for jackasses."

"Did you also hear that I don't like cocky guys?" she rolled her eyes but couldn't prevent a chuckle from leaving her throat.

He didn't get a chance to give her another mischievous answer to that question because their conversation got suddenly interrupted by the sound of an opening door. They both turned their heads in the directions of the room, and saw Mike come out of one of the rooms, directly followed by Rachel. The couple still looked quite sleepy, and at the sight of Harvey and Donna at the kitchen counter Mike mumbled, "What're you doing up so early, guys?"

Both Donna and Harvey started chuckling. "It's not early, Mike, it's already" - Harvey glanced at the watch on his wrist - "past 10 am."

"And he was making me breakfast," Donna spoke the sentence towards Rachel and Mike but she tilted her head and focused Harvey with a teasing look, her tongue pressed against her teeth to prevent her from smirking or laughing out loud, knowing he'd quite likely deny everything right away. And she admitted to herself it was kind of fun to watch him squirm.

"No, I wasn't!" he immediately protested. "She stole _my_ breakfast that I've been making for _me_!"

She inwardly grinned about the fact that she was right about him and thought about a response for a few seconds. "Well, let's agree on the fact that you made some breakfast and I ate it, okay?" She exchanged a challenging look with him and let her brows go up for a moment.  
Harvey wanted to answer with a witty comeback, but it was one of the few times in his life he couldn't think of anything good in the very moment he would need it. So he closed his slightly agape mouth and only narrowed his eyes on her, seeming to be a little offended by her remarks but she could spot the sparkle of amusement in his eyes. She knew that he accepted the fact that she won this turn of their ongoing "teasing-challenge", but she also knew that he was ready for their next round.

In the meantime, the couple that had just woken up and witnessed the whole conversation also exchanged a look, but a knowing and amused one. They both were well aware of the fact that Donna and Harvey are just roommates. Now even quite close friends, and they had had a very special connection from the very beginning. Every single one of their conversations was sort of a cabaret show of its own, and the entertainment-factor grew almost every time the two exchanged some words. Rachel and Mike knew that the two were both determined to _not_ get into a relationship with each other, but seeing them like this every day sometimes made them think if they would maybe ever change their minds about that.

—

The next Wednesday evening, Harvey was sitting in his room and was studying. Since he had been at his desk the whole afternoon now he needed to get his mind off his university work at some point. Shortly thinking about it, he ran his hands over his face, then he made a short break to go to the bathroom. When he came back a few minutes later he saw _her_ sitting in his chair, her feet on his desk.

"Seriously, Donna?" he exclaimed with a hint of annoyance in his voice, but he was quite sure that she would be able to figure out that he was only a bit stressed out and not actually mad at her. She had always been incredibly - almost uncannily - good at reading people. Or at least reading him, he didn't really know about the others. "I'm not allowed to get anywhere near your room and you get to come into mine like you own this place?" He threw his hands in the air to underline his words.

"Yeah Harvey, that's exactly how it works. Get used to it." She ended her sentence with a smirk and put her feet down. She knew he wasn't too upset about it but she didn't want to overstrain his nerves.

With a sigh but also a hidden smile on his lips he shook his head and gave in. To be honest with himself he didn't have a problem with her being around in his room, quite the opposite, but he would never tell her that. "Fine. What do you want?"

"I, uh, sort of need you," she mumbled and looked down, fidgeting with her fingers.

His face lightened up and his lips curled a bit more. She had actually never asked for help before because she was the kind of person who wouldn't admit easily that they needed someone. He felt flattered that she decided to come to him, knowing that it was probably not that easy to overcome her pride and ask for help. "Always happy to help. So, what's up?"

"I need you to help me with the can opener. I was just preparing everything for dinner but when I tried to open the can it kinda got stuck. And now I can't move it in any direction," she started to explain, "I know that you're quite busy and I'd ask Mike but first of all he and Rachel aren't at home and secondly I think that maybe you're a bit more eligible for..., uh,..." She stopped talking and felt a bit awkward, not knowing how exactly she should express herself without sounding too embarrassing.

Harvey had a hunch of where she was going with that and didn't want to miss the opportunity to make her squirm a bit, because he realized this topic made her feel a bit uncomfortable. So he played dumb and asked innocently but with a big grin, "For what?"

She gave him a withering glance and rolled her eyes before she sighed and finally answered. "For something that involves physical strength. Are you happy now?"

His smirk only grew wider, now that his previous assumption had been confirmed. "So you think I'm in good shape?" he challenged her, his eyes sparkling in amusement.

"God, you're such a self-important person," she panted and rolled her eyes again, "The only thing I'm saying is that Mike is absolutely unqualified for anything that involves muscular strength. I mean, just look at that boy, he can barely carry his backpack and it's a miracle he's never been blown away by a gust of wind."  
She gestured at her last sentences to lend weight to her words and to try to convince him - maybe even herself - that this was only an objective and very rational point of view, but Harvey just kept standing there and grinned from ear to ear.

Ultimately, Donna sighed and closed her eyes. It seemed like nothing could wipe the smirk off his face. She wasn't ready to admit that she sort of lost an argument in here but she also knew that she should probably not continue this conversation with him. Not that she would really acknowledge that to herself but she was a bit worried that their talking could drift off in certain territories she wasn't sure they should be talking about. Like it has already happened sometimes before.

She stood up, walked past him and turned her head around when she was at the doorstep. "So, are you coming or what?"

"For you?" He wheeled around and slowly stepped towards her, stopping a few inches in front of her. He leaned his head forward, bringing his face nearer to hers. She swallowed hard and just stared in his dark eyes, unable to move.

He didn't really think his actions through, it was on the spur of the moment. He knew he should probably not do what he was about to do but he couldn't stop himself. Then he crooked his head and brought his mouth close to her ear, his lips almost grazing her skin. His voice wasn't more than a husky whisper when he continued, "I'd always come for you."

She could feel his warm breath tickle on her skin and a shiver ran down her spine. He finished his sentence with a wink and leered at her. Now it was his turn to pass by her, and he went straight to the kitchen, leaving her standing in his doorstep.

She was stunned by his comment and especially his actions, and she squinted in surprise, glad that he couldn't see her in her current state. She knew that almost every time they talked to each other there was a point in the conversation where they changed from playful banter to obviously suggestive remarks. It sort of was their ritual and she would never admit to anyone else but she wouldn't say that she didn't like it. But this time he had reached a new peak in their history of interaction.

However, she decided to not give it too much attention, mainly for her own protection. She wasn't ready to think about it, even less contemplate what it meant, both for him and her. So she just shook her head in disbelief but with a chuckle and followed him.

When she came back to him to the kitchen, he had already managed to open the can. He was standing behind the counter and greeted her with a beam from one ear to the other. "I did it," he proudly presented her his result and held up the can in the left hand and the can opener in his right hand.

She rolled her eyes at his smug face but the corners of her mouth twitched nevertheless. She took the can from his hand and thanked him.

His facial expression grew softer and he gave her a warm smile. "No problem." He paused and his gaze dropped for a second before he continued with a more serious face, "I know, it probably mostly sounds like I'm joking but I really am happy to help." A shy smile escaped him when he looked up to her again.

Now it was her turn to focus her toes, but when she lifted her head again she returned his smile and for a moment she got lost in his warm brown eyes. She wasn't exactly used to him being so honest and soft, he rarely showed this side of him. But every time he did she was glad that she was able to also get to know this side of him.

They remained a moment in silence, with their eyes locked. It was her who eventually broke the eye contact and looked at the can in her hand. "Are you hungry?" she asked him. "Because after your seemingly _extremely_ exhausting work with this one here," she held up the little metal cylinder in her hand and quirked her eyebrows, "I think I at least owe you that I share my dinner with you."

Harvey couldn't help but chuckle at her words. "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks," he nods. "But you're not gonna invite Rachel and Mike as well, do you?"

"Don't worry," she giggled, "If we'd wait for them to come home we'd starve in the meantime. And I don't know about you but I'd rather not starve at the moment."

Now he also had to laugh and shook his head. "God, I don't even want to know what they're always doing so long."

She joined his laughter and says, "You should've seen the two when they weren't together. It was kinda cute to watch but also really, _really_ tiring to experience every day."

"I only met them once in that state," he chuckled, "and I think I'm thankful that I didn't have to witness all of their weirdnesses."

"You should be! Sometimes I was on the verge of either killing them or locking them in a room to finally get their shit together."

"Was it that bad?" The hint of surprise in his voice was genuine and not faked.

"God, you have no idea!" she proclaimed with another laugh. Then she reached her hand out for the metal object he was still holding in his hand. "But now give me back my can opener so I can get back to making us something to eat."

He inclined his head and let his gaze shift between her and the kitchen utensil in his hand. "Hm," he acted like he was thinking about it. "Nope, I think I'm gonna keep it." He offered her a devilish smirk from one ear to the other.

She only rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand with the can opener. She tried to remove it from his fingers but he still refused to loosen his grip around the metal object. "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

"But you like me nevertheless," he beamed at her liked an innocent little boy who was proud of his actions.

"I'm _living_ with you, that would be a bit difficult if I actually hated you," she responded dryly, letting go of his hand again. The main reason she did that was that she was a bit surprised about how this small and seemingly harmless touch made her stomach flutter a little and left a tingle on her hand. It sort of irritated her but she tried to cast off that feeling, not attach too much value to it, and focus back on the conversation. "But seriously, I'd like to get the can opener back, it is in fact _mine_."

"But I had so much fun with him," he pouted and tried to look sad.

"Him?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I don't know, just came to my mind," he shrugged apologetically.

He saw her eyes glister, and she remained silent for a few moments before she spoke again. "You know what? Maybe we can make an agreement about you two spending time together," she offered with an amused expression on her face and crossed her arms in front of her body.

He leaned forward, rested his elbows on the counter and put his chin in his palms. "Sounds fair," he grinned from one ear to the other. "But I have one condition."

"You know that you're not exactly in the position to negotiate right know, don't you?" she crooked one of her eyebrows.

"Actually, I am." Triumphantly he waved the can opener around in front of her eyes.

She averted her look from his eyes for a second to glance at the metal object and realized that he was actually not wrong. She sighed and it dawned on her that this was already the second time on this day that he had beaten her in an argument. But she would never admit her defeat, especially not to him, so she just snorted and twisted her mouth. "Fine," she tried to fake sulkiness in her voice but she was pretty sure it wasn't her best performance. "What condition?" She tilted her head and crossed her arms in front of her body, looking at him quizzically, curious what he would actually ask for.

" _We_ " - he gestured between himself and the can opener with his free hand - "get to spend that quality time with _you._ " He emphasized the last word and pointed with the object in his hand at her, the smirk on his face nowhere near from disappearing.

Perplexed by his request she raised one of her eyebrows and a puzzled "Seriously?" rolled off her tongue before she could stop herself. "You wanna spend time with me?"

"Can you blame me?" He shrugged and lifted his hands defensively, a boyish look on his face, lips pressed to a line and eyes slightly widened. "But seriously, I really wanna get to know you better, I mean we've been living together for - what, a few weeks? - but I never really got the chance to talk with you more."

"I can't remember you trying to talk more with Rachel." Her eyebrow still near hear hairline, she knew these weren't the kind of remarks she should make to him if she wanted to leave their conversation - and probably their whole relationship - on a normal level, but she figured it was already sort of late for that so she did nevertheless.

"Well, I don't want Mike to think that I'm pinching his girlfriend," he crooked his head and looked at her.

"What if I had a boyfriend who wouldn't like the thought of you wanting to spend time with me?" she asked him and widened her eyes at him, now seemingly more serious.

Harvey was taken by surprise by her question and she saw his Adam's apple bob. He had actually never thought about that possibility, after all it wasn't something he should wonder about, right? "Uh, do you?" He swallowed again because deep inside he wasn't sure if he even wanted to know the answer to that question, but he ignored that thought.

"I don't know how this is really any of your business," she gave him a reproving look but her soft eyes indicated that she wasn't seriously mad at him. Only a bit surprised that he asked anyway, she didn't really know what to think about that fact. But these are just questions that cohabitants ask each other, right? "But no."

He inwardly smiled about her answer and a feeling of relief started to flood through his body but then he scolded himself. He shouldn't really care about whether she had one or not, it wasn't his place to wonder about such things. Then he shifted off his thoughts, tried to give them not too much attention - she had her rule that would make anything in that direction impossible after all - but bury them somewhere in the back of his brain.

"Good." Both of them not sure if his statement was still regarding the _"can opener agreement"_ or about the fact she didn't have a boyfriend. But both proved that they were masters in concealing upcoming emotions or thoughts and just ignored them, continuing their conversation like nothing strange had happened. _Like they had done all the times before._ Even though they didn't even know each other for that long yet _._

He put the smirk back on his face. "So we have a deal then?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes at his somewhat childish behavior. "Looks that way."

Their eyes locked and they both pressed their lips together while trying not to laugh. Harvey let his tongue snake out and the corners of his mouth twitched before he eventually started laughing again, Donna joining him only a fraction of a second later.

"Okay, I think I have to admit that this is one of the most ridiculous ideas I've ever had - and that's saying something, even for me!" Harvey chuckled with a shake of his head, his eyes sparkling of amusement.

"Oh my god, so you're telling me that the great Harvey Specter has more of these stupid vagaries?" she pretended to be shocked and widened her eyes, "I had no idea! Maybe I should rethink this whole deal?"

"So you think I'm great?" His grin from one ear to the other divided his face into two parts.

Donna rolled her eyes again and sighed deeply, scolding herself for giving him such an opportunity to act out his inherent smugness. "Yeah, a great _pain in the ass_. I'll _definitely_ have to rethink - if not completely dissolve - our deal."

His face suddenly fell and a consternated expression crept on it. "Really?" Right in that moment he honestly had no idea if she was being serious or not, and he was sincerely afraid that she was earnest.

"No," she shook her head and grinned, "but the look on your face a few moments earlier was totally worth it."

"Okay," he exhaled and she could literally see his shoulders relax in relief when he did, "well then I think we finally have our agreement." He crooked his head, smiled at her and stretched out his hand.

She looked at his offered hand for a few seconds, then she took it and shook it, lifting her eyes back to his. "Deal."

Their hands lingered in each other for probably a few seconds longer than necessary, and when they parted eventually she wasn't sure if his thumb was drawing a small circle on the back of her hand or if it was just part of the process of them parting hands. Or probably only a product of her imagination.

To be honest with themselves, they both didn't really have a clue what they actually had just agreed on, but neither of them wanted to bring that up because they both sensed that this subject could become quite sensitive. So they decided to not think too much of this, taking this more as a gag than anything else. Because they definitely did _not_ just agree to date each other - not at all.

* * *

 **I hope the part with the can opener wasn't too much, initially I only wanted to mention it shortly but when I started writing the scene it somehow turned out to be the one that constitutes almost half of the chapter ^^'**

 **As usually, letting me know what you think makes me really happy (and also relieves some of my still existing insecurities about basically everything I write, I'm always anxious that I make mistakes and disappoint everyone). So please send me thoughts and feedback but also criticism, suggestions, complaints if you have any (also on Twitter if you like; you can find me under random_camaro). It's always nice to know that there are people who enjoy reading this story! :)  
I promise the next chapter will be up within the next few days! (presumably Wednesday)**

 **Chapter 4 sneak peek: they visit a certain (in this chapter mentioned) bar...**


	4. Water Incidents

**Hey guys! I know I'm probably repeating myself a lot but: thank you so much again for all your reviews! (I can't reply to the guests directly but I can assure you: I see all of you, and every single word of all of you guys means a lot to me and makes me really happy!) :)  
**

 **Since someone asked if I already knew how many chapters there are going to be: I can say that so far I have about 9 chapters in planning (but this number may still vary a little, depending on how writing what I want to happen in those chapters will turn out).**

 **But now have fun with this chapter, I for one can say that I had quite some fun with writing it :D  
(Although it might not even be that funny in a proper sense, probably I just had fun while writing because I'm weird, I don't know)  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 4 - Water Incidents**

Since Donna had asked - or to be more exact _begged_ \- all of her roommates to finally come to the bar the next weekend, they all agreed to visit her during her shift on Sunday. Though she wouldn't be able to really spend time with them or drink with them, she was still content by the fact that she eventually was able to persuade them to come to her working place. She knew it wasn't that special, but she was sort of proud of "her" little bar, and was even a bit excited to ultimately be able to share that with her roommates. Her friends.

She already left a bit earlier to be on time for her shift, and the other three assured her to be there a bit later. When they finally arrived, they shortly greeted Donna but she was occupied with another customer so the group browsed the bar for a free table until they found one and headed towards it to sit down.

They ordered the first round of drinks and began a conversation about university. Since they were all law students, Mike and Harvey even in the same year, they had some anecdotes to share. Most of them about the professors and lecturers, but also about some of the students they all knew. It surprised them but they had actually never chatted about it, though they lived together and also basically met every day on the campus they had somehow never talked about any of this. Probably because they didn't want to spend all of their - to be honest quite little - free time with discussing the omnipresent student life.

After an hour or so the conversation about university slowly ran dry, and they fell in a comfortable silence for some moments, taking sips from their respective drinks. Mike shortly headed to the bar to order a new round, coming back with three filled glasses only shortly after he had left.  
Meanwhile, Harvey let his look roam the room again, not consciously looking for anything - or _anyone_ \- in particular, but when his gaze stumbled upon her red hair he immediately interrupted his browsing and let his eyes linger on her for a moment. His face automatically softened and his eyes lightened up a bit, paired with a not unpleasant warm feeling in his stomach.

Rachel had studied Harvey for a few seconds, the change in his countenance didn't slip by her and she didn't even have to turn around to know where - _who_ \- he was looking at. She had already seen that look on his face a few times at home, though she was quite sure he didn't know that because he actually tried to hide it and was quite successful sometimes. But sometimes his subconsciousness was stronger than his control of his face. She then started to talk again, "So..."

The single syllable didn't reveal much, so Harvey had to inquire. "So what?"

"You and Donna..." Rachel drawled her sentence deliberately because she knew that Harvey didn't really like that topic in particular. But she wanted to take the opportunity to tease him and make him feel a bit uneasy, despite knowing that her statement alone would probably be reason enough for him to feel uncomfortable.

"What about us?" He frowned because he wasn't exactly sure where Rachel was going with her question though he had a hunch what she wanted to imply. But he still hoped that wasn't the direction she wanted to go.

The brunette only raised her eyebrow at his question, and now that Harvey was confirmed in his previous assumption he snorted and shook his head. He looked over at Mike to seek approval for his own side, but the other man also had the same expression on his face as his girlfriend so he wouldn't be much help in that case.

"No!" His voice sounded firm but he felt a sting in his stomach due to the realization that this was very likely always going to be the answer to that question, whether he liked or not.

"Why not?"

"Because!" he blurted out, not sure how he was supposed to convince two people who obviously already had an opinion about that subject. "It wouldn't be a good idea, it would be a mistake. We're friends. We live together. That would kinda screw everything up." He didn't tell them about her rule, he wasn't sure if they knew about it - well, he was pretty sure Rachel knew because she was Donna's best friend, but Mike quite likely didn't know - and he didn't want to tell them about it. It would feel like he betrayed her trust by telling someone about what to him felt like some kind of secret. Something not everybody was supposed to know about since it wasn't something one would discuss with any random stranger.

"Besides," now Harvey turned his attention to Mike, "may I remind you that it was _you_ who told me not to try anything in that direction?" He crooked one of his brows to underline his question that was actually more a statement than an inquiry.

Shortly interrupted by Rachel, who excused herself to the bathroom but in fact wanted the two guys to have a moment for themselves to have a "men talk", the two men sitting face-to-face remained quiet for a moment before Mike began to speak again.

"I'm not telling you to act like the womanizer you usually are, I'm talking about the fact that only a blind doesn't see the looks you two throw at each other when the other one's not looking. Jeez, even when the other one _is_ looking!" He paused shortly to study Harvey's face but he didn't show any kind of reaction, trying to keep his composure, so Mike continued. "I'm not trying to convince you of anything, I'm just telling you that things like that can actually work - I mean look at Rachel and me. You know, not everything you ever tried was a complete disaster, so if you think that you can make that work I think you should rather _do_ something than have to live forever with the thought of _'What if'_."

"Thanks Mike, that was a great speech, but if I want your advice on my personal life I'll ask for it." Harvey knew that his dry answer wasn't a hundred percent fair towards his friend. He knew that he was just trying to help but since Mike didn't know all the facts, his little speech actually made his heart ache a little more. And besides, he tried to convince himself that this wasn't what he wanted, he hadn't known Donna for that long. He knew that he felt comfortable around her, their interaction felt so natural and familiar, and also they have become quite good and close friends. But besides that he wasn't really sure about anything.

And given the fact that his history of relationships hadn't been very successful because he was pretty much a washout when it came to emotions, it was reckless to believe he could actually tell right now what he wanted or didn't want. It was actually too much for him to think about right now because he assumed it wasn't the norm to have so many thoughts about _that_ when you don't know a person that long. It was sort of overwhelming for him, especially since he knew that something in this direction would never be a possibility at all, so why spend much more time thinking about it?

He just knew that speaking with his friend about that wasn't what he wanted to do right now, so they changed the subject again.

When Rachel came back to the table, the two friends where already talking about their favorite movies and throwing quotes at each other's heads like their life depended on it. Nothing about the image in front of her reminded of what they were actually talking about a few minutes earlier.

—

After a few more drinks, Mike and Rachel announced that they would call it a night and head off home.  
"Are you coming with us?" Mike asked. Harvey lifted his eyes from his empty glass and looked at the couple. After considering for a few seconds he shook his head and replied, "No, I think I'm gonna stay a bit longer. I'll accompany Donna home after her shift, I mean I can't let her walk all the way back to the apartment alone." He tried to sound as neutral as possible and not give the two a reason to tease him about Donna again. With that thought he let his look wander through the room one more time, only to fixate the one thing - or better one _person_ \- he was subconsciously searching for.

Mike and Rachel exchanged another knowing and amused look - without Harvey noticing it because he was too lost in thoughts - before they waved their final goodbye. When he passed by Harvey, Mike patted on his shoulder and gave him another wink and broad grin.  
Harvey just snorted and rolled his eyes in annoyance, fully aware of what the other one was implying. At this point, if looks could kill, the bar would have been a crime scene by now and Michael James Ross would have played the part of the dead body.

—

After remaining some minutes sitting alone at the table in the corner of the room he overcame his inhibitions, stood up and headed to the bar. The bar a certain person was standing behind.  
He swallowed and casted off that unfamiliar feeling that kept creeping up in his stomach whenever she was around. He ignored that his heart was thumping like mad and he eventually ended up leaning against the bar, greeting her with his Cheshire cat grin, "Hey."

At first she pretended to not notice him and kept herself busy with putting empty glasses into the dishwasher. But then she couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from curling up. "Hey stranger," she turned around to face him with a lopsided sneer. "Do you want something?"

"Just wanted to tell you some great news." He couldn't help but grin at the thought that she would probably think a bit different about what he had just referred to as " _great news"_.

She indeed creased her forehead and gave him a quizzical look. "And what news would that be?"

"You have great company for your way home tonight," he beamed at her.

She narrowed her gaze on him to process what he had just said, then she raised her eyebrow and tried to stifle a laugh. "You?"

He only nodded, and then she shrugged and said, "Well, I guess it could've been worse." When she saw how he pursed his lips, she winked at him though she knew very well that he had only feigned his pout.

"But you do know that I still have to work a few hours until my shift's over, right? So if you want to go home I'd understand, you don't have to -"

"I know, but if you let me and don't compel me to go home straight away I don't mind keeping your company." He gave her a coy smile, a slight apology written on his face for interrupting her. He tried to cover the fact that his heart was still pounding like mad, he hated to acknowledge it but he was in fact afraid that she would insist on him leaving.

But the throbbing in his chest immediately calmed down when he saw her face soften and her lips curl up a bit again. Then she dropped her gaze for a moment and drew her bottom lip with her teeth. Her actions made his heart skip a beat without her knowledge and he was glad that currently she wasn't looking at him so she wouldn't notice it.

When she looked back up in his face he had already recomposed himself again. "Okay, thanks," she smiled at him, her eyes getting lost in his for some seconds. She wasn't sure if it was just the dim light or her imagination that made them so dark or if his pupils were extremely dilated due to another reason. But in that very moment she decided to not think about that question but focus back on the conversation. "I'd appreciate that."

Harvey only mirrored her facial expression, not trusting his own brain to form a proper sentence right now. _'Alcohol doesn't make it easier to stop looking at her,'_ he thought to himself, not able to avert his gaze from her eyes.

"But now I really have to get back to work, so unless you want to order something I guess I'll see you at the end of my shift at the latest." Her voice suddenly interrupted him in his thoughts and he tried to remember what she had just said. When he saw her quizzical look, he quickly nodded and gave her a small smile before she walked away to another guest, leaving Harvey on his own for the moment.

It didn't slip by her that he seemed a bit different than usual, a bit tensed and almost insecure, but she wasn't sure if she only imagined that. It was probably only because she had never seen him drunk or even half-drunk before anyway. Since she had already learnt that he wasn't always as simple and easy to "read" as most of the other people she had met in her life, and she didn't want to spend the rest of her working time wondering about a little detail of Harvey's demeanor, she decided to distract herself from those thoughts and riveted back on her work.

—

When her shift was finally over, he patiently waited for her outside, hands buried in the pockets of his pants. He knew she had to finish a few more things and then grab her stuff before she could leave eventually, and the bar had already closed so he had to wait out the front.  
It was already getting a bit could at night at this time of the year, so he rubbed his hands to warm them a little. In that moment he felt a drop on the back of his hand, he froze his movements and slowly looked up to the dark sky.

Now feeling even more raindrops falling down on him he exhaled and cursed under his breath. Of course he hadn't thought of bringing an umbrella with him, nothing of todays weather provided an indication for an upcoming pluvial. "Shit," he murmured once again just when the door behind him opened and Donna stepped out.

"What is it?" she furrowed and slowly took another step towards him. He sighed and turned his head towards her. "You don't happen to have an umbrella hidden in your bag, do you?" he asked with a self-conscious laugh and ran his fingers through his hair.

She slowly shook her head and twisted her mouth before she asked, "Are you seriously telling me it's raining?"

With an excusatory expression he started the attempt of an apology. "I wish I had better news but unfortunately -"

"Nah, stop it!" she chuckled, "It's not like it's your fault. And it's not that big of a problem, I mean, I think we'll survive it, it's just water."

"Yeah, right," he grinned back at her, "I just wasn't sure how you feel about walking in the rain."

"I guess it doesn't matter right now how I feel about it, so shut up and go ahead, I want to get home _today_." She tilted her head with a lopsided smile and with a nod of her head she prompted him to lead the way.

—

When they finally arrived at their building, they were both soaking wet - their thin jackets also hadn't helped in keeping them dry.  
While they waited for the elevator to appear, they laughed with and at each other because they both looked a bit ridiculous. His formerly diligently styled hair had become disheveled, now a few of his dark blonde streaks were hanging on his forehead.  
And her previously wavy hair was now drenched and straight, a few hanks spread across her cheeks and forehead.

When he allowed himself to take a closer look at her, he swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat. The next thing he did was reaching out to put some of the loose strands behind her ear, and he knew that it was rash and probably not the best decision he had ever made but he just couldn't stop himself from doing it in that very moment.

She just kept staring at him when his hand came closer to her and didn't move. He almost didn't touch her, his fingers only felt like a breath of air, but while he slowly pulled his hand back he increased his touch a little. This mite was enough to make her shiver. He felt her trembling, but both were not exactly sure if the quiver was because she was cold and her clothes were soaked or if there was another reason. Caressing her cheek once again with a brief movement of his thumb, he eventually drew back completely and took a small step backwards.

Taking a deep breath, he turned back towards the still closed elevator doors and fixated the display at the left, waiting for the lift to already arrive. Exhaling deeply trough his nostrils he tried to ignore the almost palpable tension in the air between them. It was as if it was loaded with electricity and all of a sudden he couldn't wait for the elevator to appear. The alcohol still in his system also wasn't a great help for keeping him calm.

She also stood still right next to him, with eyes still half-hooded, and reminisced the last few seconds. She could still feel his fingertips softly running down her cheek, and she shivered once again.

He was watching her out of the corner of his eyes and noticed her quivering, suddenly worrying that she was more cold than she would ever admit.  
"You should get rid of that jacket, you're freezing," he mumbled with a husky voice, the hint of worry in his voice clearly audible. But he didn't turn to her, he stayed facing the elevator doors. He didn't trust himself right now, he would probably reach out and pull her into an embrace to keep her warm, and he was pretty sure that she would have something against that. Not only because she usually refused to let anyone help her but also especially because of _him._ Though they'd quite likely not feel uneasy or odd to be that close, it would still feel peculiar because that was sort of a proximity they both knew was actually more part of something that her rule made impossible.

At first she didn't move, and he wasn't sure if she just didn't hear him or ignored him, but then she slowly began to take off her jacket. He watched her trembling fingers pull at the sleeves of her jacket, and he suppressed the growing urge in him to help her. He wanted to do so really badly, but he knew that she wouldn't let him. Especially in their current situation, after touching more than they ever did in the weeks they had known each other. And after he already let an impulsive decision guide his actions, he didn't want to make the same mistake in one night again. He was afraid that he somehow had already crossed an invisible line between them, their silent agreement to not touch each other. Because that's not what normal friends would do, right?

While he was lost in his thoughts she finally managed to get her jacket off. She only saw him out of the corners of her eye but she sensed that he was somehow tensed.

The low _'ping'_ that sounded from the metal doors when the elevator finally arrived drew their attention back to the lift. He gestured her to go in first but didn't lift his eyes to look at her. Only when they were in the cabin he risked a glimpse at her and he immediately had to swallow hard. _'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to propose that she takes off her jacket,'_ he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and tried to not focus on the fact that she was wearing a white T-shirt. That was currently _wet_ and quite _transparent._

He didn't want to because it felt like he was betraying her and their agreement but he couldn't stop the image appearing in front of his eyes over and over again. He did his best to avoid her look and tried to distract himself with anything else inside the elevator, but the almost empty metal box didn't offer much to focus on.

He wished he could talk himself into believing anything else but she was definitely different from everyone he had ever met before. She made him feel... odd, something he hadn't experienced before. He didn't even dare to name any feelings, and it wasn't like he _wanted_ to fight this but he was afraid that if he didn't, her rule would hit him harder than it already did. And she didn't seem like the kind of person who would change rules offhandedly, so he was also afraid that he would not just lose his new home, but also her as a friend. And though they didn't know each other for that long, they had already grown quite close and he'd already do anything for her, even if that meant that it would hurt _him_.

In the meantime Donna wasn't doing much better, she had just noticed that his jacket was half open and showed the shirt he was wearing beneath. She was trying to avert her look before it was to late, but she froze. She realized that his light grey shirt was quite tight-fitting and right now it was drenched, too. That made it easy for her to perceive the contours of his abs through the thin fabric. Though it's not like she hasn't seen something like that before, this time everything was a little different.

She had the persistent need to clear her throat, and her body felt like it changed from hot to cold every few seconds. She could feel her cheeks blush a little and also the by then - since she met him - almost familiar flutter in the pit of her stomach returned again. So she finally dropped her gaze and stared at her feet, hoping he wouldn't notice anything of what was going on inside her.

She didn't really want to admit it, not even to herself, but it was doubtlessly _him_ that made her feel so different. Even though the alcohol in her veins didn't exactly help in avoiding all these thought she knew it wasn't just because she drank too much. Because she knew for a fact that that wasn't the case, at least not today.  
Not wanting to deal with all of her thoughts right now, she just hoped that they'd reach their floor eventually.

When they arrived at their level, they avoided each other's gazes while he unlocked the door, then they both went inside. Both remaining silent while taking off their shoes, trying to not wake anyone. After they hung up their jackets they went to their rooms, and before Harvey opened his own door he turned his head a little to peek at her. He wasn't sure if he should say something or not, but then he decided to do so. "Night," he mumbled almost inaudible before grabbing the doorknob and walking into his room, silently closing the door behind him.

When she heard his low voice, she froze her movements. After she heard his door shut, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and leaned against her own door with her eyes closed. Although she knew no one would listen right know, she heard herself whisper an almost soundless "Good night".

Then she managed to open her own door and more stumbled than actually walked inside. Her knees were still weak from everything that had happened in the past few minutes, and she was glad that she could finally fall into her bed after she had changed her wet clothes to more comfortable sweatpants and a dry shirt. She wrapped herself in her sheets, turned onto her right side and stared at the wall though she didn't see much in the almost complete darkness of her room.

She let her thoughts wander to the person that was currently located in the room vis-à-vis from her own. It was indisputable that he had become a close friend to her, not only another roommate, and some people have already told her that the conversations between him and her are very... unique and could be easily mistaken for the interaction of a couple.  
And it was also beyond debate that he wasn't bad-looking - well, admittedly he was fairly hot - but she also knew his reputation, his history with womankind. That was exactly one of the reasons she had that rule, to protect herself from people like him. But with him that had been not very effective, it had sort of fired back. He seemed _different_.

She sighed heavily and turned on her back, staring at the ceiling now. She didn't want to occupy herself with all those thoughts right now. She hoped that everything would magically turn out to be fine, that her problems would disappear. She hoped that everything with Harvey would be easy, that she could be sure about him. But she was aware that all of these things weren't going to happen out of nowhere.

So right now she just wanted to ban all of her thoughts and fall asleep. She spent some more time turning over and over again in her bed with her thoughts spinning around nearly endlessly, but eventually she was able to drift off to sleep.

—

Meanwhile in the other room, Harvey found himself in a similar situation, not knowing that the person that occupied his thoughts also couldn't find any peace of mind. He lay in his bed, arms crossed under his head and staring at the blank ceiling.

His thoughts were circling at high speed, and it was hard for him to really focus on anything in particular but it didn't really matter anyway because he knew that all of them were about Donna. He didn't know what to do, he wasn't sure if this was only physical attraction or if there was something more behind it. Deep inside he assumed the latter but then again he thought that it didn't really matter, he'd actually never find out because she had that rule that ruled everything in this direction out. For a second he was really relieved that she had her rule, knowing very well that if she hadn't, they probably would've crossed the line by now, and the situation afterwards would surely be more than awkward.

His brain told him that everything about their current situation was okay, that it was the best the way it was right now. But then why did all those thoughts about if there was actually something else keep coming back again and again?

He closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath before he turned on his right side again, trying to get some sleep after all. He knew that he wouldn't solve his problems and thoughts in this night, especially not with the alcohol in his blood slowing his mind down a bit. He would think about it some day in the future, when he was sober.

Eventually. Probably. Maybe. Or not, depending on how eager he'd be to deal with emotional things that happened in his life. And if he remained true to the previous statistics of " _Harvey Reginald Specter dealing with emotions"_ , he most likely was going to stash them somewhere in the rearmost area of his mind and try to forget about it.

—

Next day in the morning, Donna and Harvey tried to act like they did all the days before, like nothing had changed. They had both somehow managed to put all of their thoughts about each other away, almost locked them up deep down in their mind, trying to forget about them or at least not focus on them. Both had decided to blame the alcohol for the night before, and without actually talking about it they compounded another unspoken agreement to not mention it again.

Mike and Rachel also didn't notice the slight change in the interaction between their two roommates, but given the current state of their relationship they are too busy craving about each other to even really notice anything that happened around them.

Later that day, when he came home, Harvey unlocked the door and stepped inside the apartment. He listened if anyone was already in, but like he had expected he was lucky enough to be the only one home at the moment. Relieved and with a deep sigh he went to his room and placed his backpack on the floor, next to his desk. He wasn't really in the mood to face anyone right now, or talk to one of his roommates, he just wanted to be alone for a moment.

Not in the mood to study right away either, he decided to take a shower before all the others came back, and went to the bathroom. After discarding his clothes he got into the shower and let the water trickle down his body. A few minutes later he stepped out and toweled himself while looking at his reflection in the mirror. Though he didn't wash his hair, it was a bit humid and sort of stood off in all directions. He tried to fix some of the stubborn strands but they were impossible to control. Finally, he just shrugged and gave up his struggle.

When he wanted to put on some clothes, just then he realized that he had forgotten to bring some new ones to the bathroom but left them in his own room. Knowing that no one actually was in the apartment besides him right now and wasn't supposed to be here soon, he nevertheless put the towel around his waist, partly by habit and partly for the case anyone of the others came back home earlier than assumed.

The way from the bathroom to his own room wasn't that long, he only had to cross the hall and also a bit of the living room. While he was going these few steps, he suddenly heard a key turn around in the lock and he slowed down his pace in surprise. He really hadn't expected any of his co-tenants to return earlier, and now he was curious who it was.  
When the door finally opened and revealed the person who pushed it open, he at once remembered his current state of clothing and felt a blush slowly appearing on his cheeks. Hoping that this would be the only part of his body where his blood would rush.

"I -, uh -" was all he managed to say when Donna finally lifted her look from the floor and was surprised by the sight of him. Only cladded with a towel.

She forced herself to look into his deep-brown eyes and not let her eyes roam all over his body. Clearing her suddenly dry throat, she eventually was able to let a quiet "Hey" slip from her lips. Not sure where to go because he was standing in the middle of the living room and was kind of blocking the way for her to go anywhere, she decided to remain at the place she was standing after she had closed the door.

He nervously slid his fingers through his still damp hair and opened his mouth for an answer, but no sound came out. Only after a few seconds he managed to reply, "Hey, um, I'm sorry, I thought you guys'd be still out, I didn't mean to -"

"Oh, it's ok," she assured and tried to keep her eyes glued to his face and not let them slip anywhere else, "it's not like it's your fault I'm back earlier. Normally I wouldn't have been at home by now but my last lecture today was canceled, so here I am."

She heard herself spill out all those words, but she didn't actually understand what she was telling him and even less knew why she was telling him. It was sort of an attempt of distracting herself from everything about him but she wasn't sure it was really helping. Her mind always went back to his body. His arms. His bare torso. And even though she wanted to prevent herself from doing so she thought about the fact that he was wearing nothing but a _freaking_ _towel_.

Also she suddenly felt the urge to rake her fingers through his hair and try to tame some of his strands that stood in every direction, though she assumed that the reason they were so messy was because they were uncontrollable. And she was finally able to fully see what she could only make out through the fabric of his shirt yesterday. She had to admit, abs _definitely_ looked better without a cover, and also his physical appearance in general wasn't ungainly. She suddenly felt a warmth in her stomach that impended to creep up on her cheeks.

 _'_ _Not what I should be wondering about right now'_ , she inwardly scolded herself, trying to regain composure.

The tension was clearly perceptible in the room right now, and they both swallowed contemporarily while simply gazing at each other. They both had the occurrences that had happened the day before in mind right now and neither of them knew what to do or say in that very moment without making it more awkward than it already was. Everything would have felt a bit weird, and though the silence didn't make it any less uncomfortable, they still stuck with that, it seeming the best option to not make a move and probably make everything worse.

But then the quiet and the setting in general became unbearable for Donna and she knew she had to do something or else she didn't know what would happen. "I'll go to my room, I still have a ton of work to do."

She didn't care that this sounded more like an excuse than an actual believable reason, but she had to get out of there. It was too much right know to be alone in the same room with him, she needed some space. She gave him a last - almost apologetic - smile before she scurried past him, straight to her room without looking back once. While passing by him she tried to not brush his arm, knowing that a touch would probably be too much right now, but she was still able to feel the heat radiating from his body.

Only when she closed her door behind her, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She leaned against the door and slid down to ultimately sit on the floor. She closed her eyes and asked herself if the day could even get any more awkward.

Then she remembered that she still hadn't told him about the party they were going to have at their place. She had only told Mike yet, and she was pretty sure he had already told Rachel but not _him_.

' _Damn,_ ' she thought to herself. She didn't want to go outside right know but she knew she had to confront him again soon. She sighed and put that thought aside for a moment, not wanting to think about that right know. She distracted herself with work she actually had to do - she wasn't lying to him about that - and decided to talk to him a bit later, when Mike and Rachel were back so she wouldn't have to face him alone but would have other people in the room to focus on.

—

Later that day, she heard a key turning in the lock and a feeling of relief flooded through her body. She had basically been hiding in her room ever since she had entered it after the... extraordinary encounter with Harvey. She knew that she couldn't stay in here forever, and now that her fellow roommates - or at least one of them, but they normally appeared as a pair since they were officially together - had arrived she trusted herself to go outside again. Even with the prospect of facing _him_ again, but with Rachel or Mike next to her it wouldn't feel as awkward as it had felt before. Hopefully.

She took a deep breath before she opened her door and walked over to the kitchen, firstly grabbing herself a glass of water since she had been thirsty for the last couple of hours but hadn't dared to leave the safety of her room.

While she filled the glass, she watched Mike and Harvey out of the corners of her eyes, them chatting about something they needed to prepare for their class tomorrow. She waited for the right moment to join the conversation.

"Hey, Harvey, um, I'm not sure if anyone has told you yet but we're gonna have a little party at our place this week. Nothing major, just some colleagues and friends, we always have something like that every year shortly after the summer break." A small smile scurried over her face when she told him, she tried to act normal and casual towards him because she didn't want Mike to read anything into it. She hoped that her acting skills were good enough to pull that off but she wasn't sure that she was able to convince a hundred percent. But apparently it was enough to not make him question anything - or he was kind enough to not mention it in that moment.

"Okay, sounds fun." Harvey nodded and pressed his lips to a thin line, still a bit unsure about how he should act around her right now, since she seemed a bit different - distracted and tensed if he had to name it - since their rain-walk yesterday and the towel-encounter a few hours earlier.  
But he had to concede that he also hadn't been left completely unaffected by their latest interactions.

He just hoped that they would soon forget - or at least not think about - those incidents because he had realized he missed it _._ He missed her.  
He couldn't exactly explain what it was that he missed. Their banter. Their more or less serious conversations. Their laughs. Them just being... _them_.

And he just anticipated that they get back to their old routine before that party, he didn't want to be there and feel odd in her presence, especially with all the other ones around he probably didn't know yet. And feeling relaxed and comfortable around her again would make everything else - for example conversations in their apartment like the one they just had - much easier.

With these thoughts he saw her nod shortly before she returned to her room, not knowing that she had quite similar thoughts spinning around in her mind. Also hoping that this admittedly quite strange behavior of both of them would soon be over, because she wanted to go back to being on normal terms with him, being _friends_ with him, not that awkward and uncomfortable state they were currently in.

* * *

 **Oh boy, Donna and Harvey not able to talk about anything that happened between them, I'm so glad that this is something that would never happen on the show... (Sorry, sometimes I'm a little bitter, I love them no matter what but they don't always make it easy.)**

 **But enough said, I have to tell you that I have good news and bad news: The good news is that I'm currently writing on the remaining parts of the next chapter, and I hope I'll be able to finish, proof-read and upload it soon :)  
The bad news is that my exam period is coming up soon and it's going to be quite stressful, so unfortunately I won't have much time to write :/  
I hope the wait won't be too long, I don't want to promise a specific date because I don't know if I would be able to keep it, but I promise to go back to writing as soon as I can!  
**

 **Chapter 5 is going to contain the night of the party and the morning after**


	5. The Party

**I am so sorry that this update comes much later than I intended to! One of the reasons is that I was (and still am) quite busy with uni and studying, and that I'm really exhausted and have approximately zero free time.  
Another reason is probably that someone had me want to add a scene that I hadn't planned from the beginning.**

 **But I hope you'll enjoy this chapter despite the delay!**

* * *

 **Chapter 5 - The Party**

The days went by and the party came nearer, and at first it didn't seem like anything would change. They kept a certain distance and tried to keep a neutral tone with each other when their roommates were around. When they were alone they tried to evade each other as much as possible to avoid any more possibly awkward encounters.

But then on the evening before the day of the party the four of them were preparing some things for the upcoming party the next day. Since they had agreed on working together for the preparation of the party, Donna and Harvey didn't have a choice but had to join the group - whether they liked it or not.

But they managed to avoid talking directly to each other and they tried to not look directly at each other. They knew that they at least had to try to keep up their little "facade" in front of their two roommates. It wasn't like they couldn't stand each other anymore - well, probably more like the complete opposite of that but neither of them would admit that - but they just didn't want things to get even more complicated, and they also didn't want Mike and Rachel to get involved. It wasn't their fault, and both Donna and Harvey also knew that they would have to figure this out on their own eventually.

They spent the afternoon in the living room and the kitchen, putting up some plates, bowls and cups, and talking about whether sandwiches or muffins would be better for offering their guests. Finally deciding to make both since only having one option seemed not enough. Although probably a lot was going to be left over, since there would also be a lot of other sweets and chips and stuff.

When they managed to agree on the food eventually, the conversation started to trail off a little. "Maybe we should put up some decoration," Mike mused, looking around the room and trying to figure out what they could possibly add. "It looks so empty in here."

"Yeah sure," Harvey deadpanned, sounding as disinterested in Mike's proposal as possibly imaginable. He wasn't really in the mood anymore for the preparation of the party, it had already been a long day for him. And he was definitely not motivated for redecorating their whole apartment, he just didn't see the point in changing anything. Especially since it was a student party, not a children's birthday party for 7-year-olds. "Why don't we put up some posters?"

Donna also already was quite tired of the whole preparation process, and she was a little exhausted by everything they managed to do so far - which wasn't even that much to be honest, but it took them long enough.  
So she answered to his dry comment, though she normally wouldn't have - given their current slightly tensed situation. But right in that very moment she didn't care about that fact, she only wanted to get some of the steam off that had already built up inside her today.

"That's a brilliant idea. Why don't we take some of yours, Mike? You certainly still have your old ones, like..." She pretended to think about it really hard, but in fact was only trying to not burst out laughing immediately. And given Mike's current facial expression she knew that this would be a pretty hard challenge. "I don't know, maybe the Jonas Brothers? Or are you more of a Bieber-fan?"

Now she couldn't stop herself from smirking anymore, and for the first time since she had made her comment she risked a glance at Harvey.  
She realized that he also had a similar expression on his face, and his eyes were glistening of amusement. Only moments after she had fixated her eyes on him she saw him avert his eyes from Mike, who was sitting next to him, and turn his look to her.

Their gazes met, and for a second they both froze a little, not sure if this would turn out to be another awkward moment between them. But after a moment of hesitation both their smirks grew even wider, this time not only because of Mike, but also because they realized that they are on the right track of being back to their old selves.

Forgetting for a few seconds that they weren't the only ones in the room, the sound of Mike's protesting voice threw them back to reality. "What? No! That's not what I meant. And why would you even think that those are my favor -"

He didn't even get the chance to finish his attempt of a defense because Harvey and Donna both simultaneously interrupted him. "Because it's you we're talking about here!"

At first they were a little surprised by the fact that they had just said the exact same thing to Mike in the very same moment, but then they grinned at each other, sharing another look. It wasn't always easy between them but now that they were back on their mutual teasing and joking about others, they both knew that they were back. Back on normal terms. Back to being _them_.

"Okay..." Mike dwelled, narrowing his eyes a little and shifting his look between the two people in front of him who didn't even seem to notice him anymore, "well, then no decorating it is, I guess."

He and Rachel stood next to their two co-tenants, not exactly sure what they had just witnessed. Rachel raised one of her brows and looked up to her boyfriend, only to see he had a similar questioning look on his face. They exchanged a glance, both eventually not being able to hide a little smirk creeping on their respective faces.

—

On the day of the party, minutes before their guests were expected to arrive, Harvey shortly checked his room, making sure it was more or less tidied up. He took another look in the mirror on his wall, letting his fingers run through his strands, ruffling his hair a bit, before he breathed deeply and got out of his room.

He had just closed his door behind him when a familiar voice made him turn his head.

"Wow, I'm impressed, I didn't even know that you own something different than T-shirts." With a dry voice but an amused sparkle in her eyes she greeted him and let her look wander over him. Harvey had changed his normal look with a T-shirt to a slim-fit dark grey shirt, combined with dark blue jeans. "But I have to admit, you don't look too bad with a neat shirt."

Though she tried to avoid it, she had one recurring thought: That the casually rolled-up sleeves didn't only make him look _not bad_ , they made him look bothering and confusingly _hot_. Not to mention the fact that he had the top few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned.  
But she buried that deep down in the backmost of her mind and tried to hide from him what was really going on in her brain, hoping that her cheeks didn't blush.

"Well, thanks," he smirked back at her, tilting his head slightly, "you don't look so bad either." He examined her, she also looked a bit different than usually in her dark blue jeans and the dark green top. But not different in a bad way - in fact quite the opposite.  
He swallowed and tried to not let his eyes roam over her too much. Not only because he didn't want her to find out and have her own thoughts about it but also for his own sake. It would be hard enough for him to stay unaffected around her, even though they were back on normal terms - as far as "normal" was a term that could be used to describe them.

Their eyes lingered on the other for probably a few moments longer than usually, when they suddenly got interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. They both winced a little and averted their gazes from each other, both taking a small step backwards to build up some physical distance between each other.

Neither of them made the attempt to walk towards the door, none of them dared to even move. Afraid that the other one would also move in that very moment and they'd be confronted with one of those "who-goes-first" situations. Because they definitely could _not_ use something like that in their current situation, the air already seemed tensed enough.

Luckily for them, Mike had already walked over to the door without noticing them standing there and had opened it to let in the people waiting on the other side. When the first guests stepped inside and handed over some gifts - mostly some alcohol for the imminent party - to Mike, Harvey and Donna overcame their seemingly state of shock and joined the group of people to greet everyone. Trying and succeeding to not let anyone on about that somewhat cringy staring duel a few seconds ago just around the corner.

Harvey didn't know the majority of the guests so his co-tenants introduced him to their friends and colleagues. While putting up his best possible smile, he tried to remember all the still quite unfamiliar names he had just heard and not think about anything - or any _one_ \- else.

He knew that he should enjoy this night, have some fun, talk to new people and also probably make some new friends. But deep down inside he knew that he should probably prepare for this night to get very long - both figuratively and literally speaking.

—

Harvey was involved in a conversation with Mike and Donna, when they heard the doorbell again. They all glanced at the clock, surprised that someone was still coming to the party at this time of the night, but eventually Mike shrugged and left Donna and Harvey alone for a moment, her in view of the door, him with his back turned to the apartment's entrance.

Given their current constellation, Harvey wasn't able to see who was stepping through the door in that very moment, but he didn't really care because he hadn't known many of the other guests so he expected this one to also be a stranger to him. So he waited for Mike to come back to them, assuming he would bring the newly arrived person with him to introduce them.

During the wait he shortly glanced at Donna and gave her a small smile, seeing that she was looking somewhere behind him, presumably Mike and the other person that had just arrived. For a second it seemed like a little frown scurried over her face, but he didn't have much time to think about whether he had just imagined that or not because in that moment he heard voices behind him.  
One of them was unmistakably Mike's, but the other one also seemed oddly familiar to him. It was a female one, and he tried to figured out where he could know the sound of this voice from.

"Hey Harvey," he heard his best friend shout over the relatively loud music, and he started to turn around to confront the upcoming pair, "this is -" Mike didn't get to finish his sentence because when Harvey had finally fully turned around he immediately recognized the person standing right in front of him.

"Scottie." Pressing his lips to a thin line, Harvey held his breath for a second, trying not to think about the fact that this situation could easily end up being really awkward. He had to admit, it was surprising to see her here, he really hadn't expected her to be at this party, but now he couldn't change it anyway.

Out the corner of his eyes he saw Donna's head shoot up a little, it was another almost not perceptible motion but he noticed it anyway. Apparently she was surprised that he knew Scottie, and he couldn't blame her for that.

He focused back on the conversational partner in front of him and saw that the brunette had her right eyebrow raised. "Harvey."

"Wait a second," a flabbergasted Mike managed to utter slowly, letting his look reciprocate between the brunette und his roommate, "you two already know each other?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Harvey exhaled deeply, then chuckled shortly and tried to overact his uneasiness. He didn't exactly feel comfortable in his current situation, he didn't even really understand why because he didn't have an actual reason for it. But being in one room together with Scottie and Donna seemed off and made him irritable.

"Okay," the younger blonde dwelled and narrowed his gaze on his friend. "Do I even want to know where you guys know each other from?" He had a hunch how those two had met and how they knew each other, because he had known Harvey for years. Though he seemed to have changed since he had moved in, Mike was aware of what Harvey had done with most of his female acquaintances - it was either studying together or hooking up. And the latter one was definitely more often the case.  
And though Scottie also was a law student, she seemed more like a member of the second category.

This time it was Scottie who chimed in. "No, I don't think that you really want to know that." Her almost suggestive smirk in Harvey's direction was enough for Mike to consider his assumption confirmed.

"Okay, uh, I think I'm gonna look for Rachel." Mike didn't want to stay any longer in that admittedly slightly tensed and somewhat really strange conversation, so he came up with a reasonable excuse.  
He had noticed that Donna also felt rather unsettled at the moment, he looked her into the eyes and nodded to the kitchen. Knowing that she would very likely gladly accept his offered escape from this situation.

After the two had left, Scottie and Harvey remained silent for a moment, not really knowing what to say.

"So," Scottie drawled, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm living here" Harvey raised his eyebrows a little and pressed his lips together. He wasn't really in the mood for having a conversation with her right now. He already had enough going on currently, he didn't need her to come back to his life and mess it up even more.

Running into one of his exes was never something he really enjoyed because they always seemed to be quite pissed at him - which he kind of understood, and he could live with that - but with Scottie it had always been a little more complicated.

They had sort of an on-off thing going on for some time, but at long last Harvey had finally decided to put an end to that because it was something he just couldn't live with any longer. He didn't regret their time together, but in the end it was something he didn't want to continue any longer, so they broke - whatever it was they had had - off.

Seemingly surprised by his response she crooked an eyebrow and shortly let her look wander through the apartment, but she didn't comment on his answer.

"It's been a while"

"Yeah, I know." He sounded like he was glad about the fact that they hadn't seen each other for quite some time, and he actually was. He absolutely hadn't expected to see her tonight, and he had to admit that it kind of annoyed him that she was here. He had thought this chapter of his life was already dealt with, but apparently that wasn't the case, since she didn't seem like she had fully accepted that it was over.

She frowned a little when she noticed the slightly distant tone in his voice. "So you didn't miss me? Not even a little?" She had challenging tone in her voice, like she used to have all those times before, but Harvey was tired of her little games. He wanted to end this - the conversation, everything with her - right now and he just hoped that she would finally understand it.

"Scottie," he began, and lifted his right hand, sorting his thoughts for a second before starting to talk again. "Listen, I already told you the last time we saw each other. You and I... we don't work. I'm sorry, but you have to accept that eventually." He swallowed because it wasn't easy for him to say all of this - he has never been that great with words - but it was nothing but the truth. They didn't have a future, they never had and they never would.

They just stared at each other, neither of them spoke a word until Harvey had to break that uneasy silence again because he couldn't stand it any longer.

"I think I should go now." He started to turn around and wanted to walk back to his friends when he heard her speak again.

"No, it's okay. I understand, I'm gonna leave. I didn't intend to stay long anyway because I still have some things at home I have to take care of, so it doesn't matter if I leave a few minutes earlier." She gave him a last nod, her lips pressed to a thin line, before she turned on her heels and walked towards the door.

Harvey looked after her, watching her open the door and leave. Only when the door closed behind her again, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and a wave of relief washed through his body. He couldn't quite explain it but he was glad that she was finally gone. That she had finally accepted that their former "relationship" wasn't going to start all over again.

He lifted the cup to his lips and took another sip of his beverage, ignoring the slight burn in the back of his throat and the haze that already started to set on his brain, slowing down his brain.  
He had walked over to Mike again but he didn't completely focus on the conversation in front of him, letting his thoughts drift away. Absentmindedly he let his eyes wander across the room and tried to recall at least some of the to him still new faces. When he caught a glimpse of auburn hair, he immediately subconsciously swallowed again. He cursed himself and blamed the alcohol running through his system for this reaction. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down and clear his head again.

He knew he had to distract himself somehow - especially after that encounter with Scottie - otherwise he would very likely not make it through the evening. Scanning the crowd again - and trying to avoid a certain person in the process - he managed to find a to him familiar face.  
At first he hesitated a little because he wasn't sure if he really wanted to do that to himself but then he overcame his hesitation and began to walk towards the person.

Downing the rest of his drink and mentally preparing himself for the upcoming conversation on the last few steps of his way, he finally came to halt in front of before mentioned person. "Hey Louis." The addressed flinched at the sound of his name and turned around, wondering who it could be that had just called his name because though he somehow knew the voice, it wasn't completely familiar. When he got to see the person in question, he stopped his movements and widened his eyes, not entirely sure if he could trust his eyesight in that very moment.

"H-Harvey?" Louis stammered. "What're _you_ doing here?"

"I'm living here," Harvey repeated the same line he had used in his previous conversation and chuckled a little, raising his brows.

"What?!" Louis almost shrieked, but fortunately silent enough to not draw the attention of any of the other guests. "How? I mean, what? I mean, since when?"

"I moved in a few weeks ago, during the summer break," Harvey explained, and then he frowned a little. There was something he still wanted to know really badly because he just couldn't figure it out on his own. He didn't dare to ask because that would probably not come across as he wanted it to, but he sort of wanted to know who it was that gave Louis an invitation. He assumed that Mike wasn't the one who invited him since it wasn't like Louis and him were best friends or something. He didn't have a problem with him but they just weren't that close.

So the only two options left where Rachel and Donna, but he couldn't even decide which if them was less likely since they both seemed to him like the most improbable persons to be friends with Louis Litt.

A question coming from Louis interrupted him in his thoughts. "So Donna can put up with you living here? Wow, I would have never imagined that. That just seems... weird."

"Uhm, yeah Louis, she survives living in the same apartment as me. It's not _that_ impossible living together with me, you know?" He deadpanned and crooked one of his brows, slightly offended by Louis' comment.  
But now he finally knew who was friends with Louis. _'And I still can't believe it! That's just - How is that even possible? Someone like Donna and someone like Louis?'_ He inwardly shook his head, still not sure what to think about the fact that those two knew each other.

Louis stared at him for a few seconds, without even blinking once. Then he began to thaw from his rigidity and turned around halfway, ready to leave. But before he actually left he turned back to Harvey one last time. "I think I have to go now. I need some time to process that." With that he shook his head again, got to the door and left, without any of the other guests really noticing it.

The abrupt exit left Harvey startled and a little flabbergasted. He had always known that Louis wasn't a typical or average person, and he hadn't talked to him a lot during their studying time together. But he had to admit, this conversation that had happened less than a minute ago was definitely not how he expected it to go. He had just wanted to make some friendly conversation with his fellow student, but apparently Louis didn't have the same intentions. So to say that this chat had been a little weird would be an understatement.

With another shake of his head he shook all of that off and turned back to the crowd, thinking about what to do next. He decided to fill up the empty cup in his hand - he _definitely_ needed something after this exchange. Preferably something strong enough to make him forget about it right away.

After that, he got engaged in a conversation with some friends of Rachel. He knew them by sight from the campus since they also studied with him there, but he had never talked to any of them before. They turned out to be quite pleasant company so he stayed with them, not realizing how the time went by.

So Harvey didn't have his mind occupied with certain things, respectively _persons_ , for a couple of hours. He only realized it afterwards because during that time he obviously hadn't thought about it, but he was really grateful for the distraction. Knowing that he would sooner or later have enough time to think about what was on his mind a lot recently, he was now trying to focus on the fact that he didn't have to for a few more hours, and he was trying to enjoy that time. More or less successful.

—

When the guests that where supposed to leave had left, Harvey and Donna were the last who cleared up some of the remains from the party. They had offered some of their friends to stay at the apartment, and since they were the guests they had told them they didn't need to help but could go to sleep already. Mike and Rachel had helped at first, but the couple had excused itself to also go to bed, both looking quite tired and exhausted so Donna and Harvey had agreed to take care of the rest.

While putting some plates in the dishwasher, Harvey suddenly began to chuckle silently.

Donna turned her head in his direction, raising her eyebrows and asked him with a smile on her face, "What are you laughing about?"

"It's nothing, I just -", he grinned again and shook his head, "I just wondered how you met Louis."

"Oh, you ran into Louis today?" Now it was her turn for a small laugh.

"Yeah, he's..." Harvey searched for the right words, "one of a kind."

"That he is," Donna agreed with a smirk on her face. "Well, he's a fan of the theater and visited one of the plays I've participated in. After the performance we - the actors - went to a little bar and he was there, too. So he started a conversation with me and we discovered that we had quite some things in common, so that's basically the story of how we became friends." She ended her little story with a small shrug, unsure of how he would take it. What he would think about it. She knew that he wasn't a big fan of the theater so this was probably something he was only going to laugh about.

"Huh, to be honest I hadn't expected Louis to be a fan of the theater. But on the other hand it also doesn't really surprise me," Harvey mused. He hadn't known that fact about either of the two.

Donna creased her forehead, shortly thinking about what he had just said. "Wait a second. You also know Louis?"

"Yeah," Harvey chuckled, "he's a law student, too. In fact, we're even in the same year. So whether I like it or not, I know him."

Donna was stunned for a second, then she found her composure again. "Right," she drawled, putting the pieces together herself, "I've totally forgotten about that."

He stopped his currents movements and tilted his head, raising his brows. "I thought you're supposed to know everything." The mocking tone in his voice was clearly audible, and he couldn't stop the corner of his mouth involuntarily curling up.

She slowly turned her head in his direction and gave him a withering glance. "Shut up, Specter."

He did her the favor of shutting up and not letting another sound come from his lips, but only a look in his face confirmed her assumption that he still had way to much fun with her admitting that she hadn't known something.

She rolled her eyes and snorted, asking herself if she would ever get used to his smug and arrogant, but yet in some way adorable, attitude. But she already knew the answer to that question, and so she only shook her head a little but let her lips curl the same way his had done less than a minute ago.

They continued the rest of their work in silence, and after they were finished, they went to the bathroom to get ready for the night, brushing their teeth next to each other.

They both glanced at the other from time to time in the mirror, and once they caught each other's gazes they both couldn't help but smile. Both of them were really glad that it seemed like they were back to their normal selves. The awkward tension between wasn't there anymore, they had returned to the blithe and playful banter, both of them glad that they had finally been able to do so.

After that they crossed the hall and went to the bedroom doors together. They wished each other goodnight before disappearing behind their respective doors.

Harvey knew that it was very likely going to a bit uncomfortable in his bed tonight since they had offered a few of the guests to spend the night here. Mike had provided his room since he didn't have to use it because he was in Rachel's most of the time anyway. And Harvey had been coaxed to also allocate a part of his bed.

When he got himself ready to finally go to sleep he suddenly froze and took a nearer look at his bed in the dim light of the room. _'God damnit,'_ he thought to himself, gritting his teeth and exhaling deeply. He knew he had sort of a problem right now.

* * *

 ** **I split the original chapter 5 into two a bit shorter parts because it was getting relatively long, so tomorrow I'm going to post the next chapter.  
**** ** ** **(And I'm still not sure if I'm completely pleased with the outcome of this one, maybe I'll change some things again later).******

 **And I don't think I can ever tell you how much I appreciate all your lovely reviews, every time I see a new one my mood brightens immediately, I honestly can't thank you enough for it! I always love to hear what you think, and especially in stressful times like now they really make my day!  
**


	6. Rooms

**As promised, the next chapter is already here! It contains one of the first scenes I've written for this story, therefore it would be great if you'd let me know what you think. But now enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6 - Rooms  
**

Donna had already changed into her nightgown - grey sweatpants and a dark grey Harvard T-shirt - when she heard a small knock on her door. She frowned and thought about who it could be at her door at this time, since she knew - or at least had supposed - that everyone was already in their respective rooms. She opened the door and saw herself faced with a coy Harvey Specter in his sleeping clothes.

"Uh, sorry to bother you again, but my room is, uhm, kinda occupied by some people." He sheepishly ran his fingers through his hair and scratched the back of his head, burying the other hand in his pockets and nervously flexing his biceps muscle in the process. "The guys we offered to stay at our place are all in Mike's room and mine, and now there's no place left for me. And I didn't know where else to go."

She gave him an incredulous look, not sure if he was joking or serious, but his insecure manner convinced her that he was sincere. It slowly dawned to her that they probably hadn't really thought the whole _"letting your friends stay in the apartment"_ thing through.  
And he seemed to actually have no clue what he was supposed to do, she could see on his face that he realized that the only remaining options were the couch or the floor - not exactly the most comfortable places to sleep. She only thought about her next sentence for a fraction of a second, and the words already spilled out of her mouth before she was able to reconsider.

"Okay Harvey, I won't let you sleep on the floor or on the couch. I _definitely_ don't want to be the reason why you complain about any kind of pain caused by that. You only have to promise you'll keep your hands by yourself and won't even think about anything more than sleep in my bed." She gave him a warning look at her last words, half joking and half serious. Scolding herself and trying to ignore the upcoming thought in her that she would probably not actually do anything against it if he did.

He opened his mouth to protest, but then he closed it again when he thought about the fact that sleeping in a bed would _definitely_ be much more comfortable than the other alternatives he had right now. And that this was actually the reason he came to her, Mike wasn't an option since he was in Rachel's room and his own room was also occupied by half of the guests. Three people for each bed were already almost too much, four would be rather impossible.

"Okay, well, then I guess I have to thank you." He gave her a bashful smile from the side before his hand disheveled his hair once again. When he realized that he was already repeating this motion, he inwardly chastised himself - he was reluctant to admit it to himself but he was sort of nervous in her presence. _Especially with the current prospect of sharing a bed with her._

But he told himself that there was no reason for him to feel that way around her, and also that sleeping in one bed next to her wouldn't be a problem. Though he had to admit that the thought of that may have affected him in some kind of way.

Since they were both already in their night clothes they didn't have to change first. She gestured him to get in, and he took a few steps inside before he halted his movements and stilled awkwardly in the middle of her room. He glanced around and realized that this was the first time he was inside her room - actually the first time he has ever seen more of it than the usual glimpse of her cupboard when she opened her door to slip out.

Donna had already closed her door and was now leaning against it, observing him from her angle with arms crossed in front of her body, her head tilted slightly to the left. She was only able to see his back but she could nevertheless read from his posture that he was nervous, and she noticed that he didn't really know what he should do next.

Then he spotted something, and was glad that he had found something he could break the awkward silence with. "Uh, nice cactus," he pointed with his finger at it, trying to not think about the fact that this wasn't exactly the best way to start a conversation.

Donna closed her eyes and slightly shook her head, a smile scurrying over her face. It was just like him to find the probably most boring thing in her room to talk about. "Thanks," she chuckled.

Then she pushed herself off the door and walked towards her bed, sat down on one side before looking up to him again. "You know, to sleep in this bed you somewhen have to actually get on it," she challenged him with one of her eyebrows raised, "I mean, you can still sleep on the floor if that's what you prefer but I think this bed is big enough for two people to sleep in it _next_ to each other - not forcing them to sleep on top of each other." The last part of her sentence sounded sort of wrong the second after she had pronounced it but it was too late to take it back so she just hoped he wouldn't take it wrong.

Harvey finally woke from his rigidity and slowly stepped in her direction, lowering himself on the mattress eventually. He tried to keep a reasonable distance from her, so he just stayed at the edge of the bed and draped one of the blankets over his feet. Pulling it up to his chest, he then interlaced his fingers and let his hands rest on his stomach.

They lay next to each other, both lying on their back and staring at the ceiling in an awkward silence. Tapping the thumb of his right hand against his other, he was the one who finally broke the quiet. "I have to ask you something."

She knitted her brows and turned her head to face him. She had absolutely no idea what he was going to ask - which was something she didn't experience very often - and she just hoped that it wasn't a direction she without a doubt did _not_ want to talk about with him right know. "What?"

"Why do you have the '206' on your door?"

She exhaled and tried to convince herself that she wasn't as relieved as she was when he pronounced this harmless question.

"That's actually not a really exciting story," she smiled absentmindedly, letting her thoughts drift back to some old memories. "The apartment I used to live in before I moved in here had the number 206, and I wanted to have _some_ thing on my door in here - not my name but something else that's a bit less lame - so I decided to go for the number." She shrugged, half apologetic and half embarrassed, blushing a bit and thanking the darkness for covering her colored cheeks. She wasn't sure how he was going to react but she just hoped that he wouldn't think that this was extremely dumb.

"That's nice," his voice was low but soft, a tone she hadn't heard him use very often yet. In fact, if she remembered correctly - and she was pretty sure that she wasn't mistaken about that - he had only used that voice when he had been alone with her. So either he only used that voice when he was alone with someone, or he really only used that voice with _one_ person alone, namely...

She didn't allow herself to finish that thought, the warm flutter in her stomach she had felt when he spoke his sentence already too much for her to even form a straight thought again.

They lapsed into silence again, before she decided to overcome her inhibitions and do something she hadn't thought she'd do when she had first met him.

"I, uh -" she began to stutter, not really able to form the right sentences she thought she had already had in mind only seconds ago. "I think I should tell you about the last roommate we had. And the real reason he moved out," she then was finally able to say, still a bit cautious how his reaction would be.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, it's not like you owe me anything." She didn't know that this was possible but his voice grew even softer now. She almost got flustered by the effect it had on her but she casted that off and directed her focus back on what she was about to tell him.

"No, I... I think you deserve to know a bit more about all of it," she began, still not comprehending completely why she suddenly opened up. She didn't grasp the _why_ , she only knew that it sort of didn't feel wrong to tell him. It felt wrong to not tell him.  
He had grown to one of her closest friends, and she felt like she could trust him with anything. She still had hesitations about what he'd think about her after she told him, but in her current - admittedly slightly more open, thanks to the alcohol in her system - state she was ready to take that risk. Because deep down she had the feeling that he wouldn't make fun of it or something. And she just felt like he deserved an explanation, even though she didn't exactly knew for what since it wasn't like he had done anything similar. _'Yet,'_ her brain added, and she tried her best to shake off that last thought.

His throat bobbed at her words, he had a vague idea about what she was going to disclose to him but he didn't know if he was ready to hear the story or if he even _wanted_ to know it. Shifting his position a little to cover the slightly uncomfortable feeling inside him, he waited for her to carry on.

She also swallowed and gathered her thoughts, taking a deep breath before she began to speak. "So, uh, you already know that your predecessor moved out because of my rule."

He slowly nodded though he wasn't even sure if she would see it in the dark, but she noticed it and continued.

"Well, to be more exact he moved out so that I wouldn't have any more excuses to not go out with him. I'll save you all the details but when he had moved out, I agreed to seeing him."

She had to pause before she could resume, and he remained silent next to her, knowing that she would proceed at some point. He understood that this wasn't something she'd tell any stranger in a few minutes, so he gave her the time she needed.  
And also it was a protection for himself so that he wouldn't lash out - especially since it would hit the wrong person. He hadn't heard the full story yet but he had sort of a bad feeling about it and he had already clenched his jaw and his fists, full in protective mode. But he knew that she wouldn't appreciate him being angry at a guy he hadn't even met yet, and technically had no real reason to be angry about - or maybe even _jealous_ of.

"Well, the short form is that this son of a..." she inhaled deeply to overcome the anger that had built up in her.  
Before this conversation, it had always more felt like pain and a deep aching when she thought or talked about it, but this time she was just angry at the person who admittedly crushed her heart a few months ago. "Anyway, it turned out he had a girlfriend all this time, and after some weeks he casually told me that he moved back to her after he had moved out from here. And as you can probably imagine this was the end of our _'relationship'_." She emphasized her last word with a scoffing tone.

At first he didn't say anything, and she was worried that he had either fallen asleep or he was judging her for falling for such an idiot, but then she heard him say something.

"I'm sorry, Donna." His smooth voice once again was enough to make her feel a bit better immediately. She then felt the knuckle of his right index finger brush against the back of her left hand that was lying next to her body. At first she wasn't sure if she had just imagined it but then she also noticed a low rustle - the noise that an arm moving over the sheets would make - and then she was pretty sure that it hadn't been a product of her imagination.

She swallowed and tried not to flinch, surprised by his touch, the familiar warm flutter in her stomach starting to spread in her body again. She didn't know how or what to reply so she decided to go for the probably easiest response.  
And so there it was again, the silence they always lapsed into. It wasn't uncomfortable but for the first time it felt sort of strange, like they had just shared an intimate moment that one usually only shared with one's significant other. But on the other hand, it also didn't feel strange but familiar. Normal.

Finally, Harvey thought that it would be probably best if they actually went to sleep - or at least tried to find some rest. "Good night, Donna," he whispered and looked her in the eyes, letting his gaze linger on her for a moment. Then he turned around so that he faced the wall, making sure they had at least some visual distance between them, their physical proximity not making anything exactly easier.

"Good night," she breathed almost inaudible but Harvey heard it and his lips curled. The presence of the respective other made it hard for both of them to focus on anything else, even less let them fall asleep. But eventually they both doze off with their backs turned to each other, none of them able to see the slight smile on the other's face.

—

Next day in the morning, Harvey was a little disorientated when he woke up. He hadn't opened his eyes yet but he felt that something was different from all the last mornings he had woken up in his new home. Then he finally remembered bit by bit what had happened the day - better said night - before. Where he was. Donna's room.

 _Donna._

He tensed and opened his eyes widely, then he carefully peeked to his right. There she was lying, peacefully sleeping and facing him, her auburn hair spread over the pillow and a few locks hanging in her face. A soft smile appeared on his face and he relaxed immediately when he saw her like that. He still didn't quite understand why, but she had a calming effect on him.

Only now he realized that she was lying pretty close to him and he swallowed hard. Not that he didn't appreciate being close to her but he wasn't sure how she would feel about their current proximity, considering how clear she had made her rule.  
The only thing he was pretty sure about was that she would clearly blame him and bite his head off, although he didn't even know who closed up on whom.

With a small smile on his face he shook his head at these thoughts. He didn't want to raise her out of her sleep and find them in this slightly awkward situation, so he slowly began to sit up. Avoiding sudden movements so he wouldn't awake her, he carefully rested his weight on his forearms. At this very moment he felt that something was clutching his right hand. _Someone._

 _'Holy shit.'_ His mind wasn't able to form any other thoughts, and he froze his movements on the spot.

He was wondering why he hadn't noticed that earlier but he slowly realized that it had just felt so normal. So _familiar_. Almost as if they were used to this. And to be honest with himself he enjoyed the feeling of her skin under his touch.

Absentmindedly he brushed his thumb over the back of her hand, and a faint smile appeared on his face again. He had to admit, he _could_ really get used to it.  
Suddenly realizing what he was doing, he stopped and every fiber of his body told him to leave as soon as possible. He didn't know what all of this was or what it meant, it was a bit too much for him to comprehend at the moment. He almost wanted to flee out of her room right away, but he needed to be careful and not hectic so he restrained his sudden urge to escape.

He gently removed his own hand from hers and prayed that she wouldn't wake up right in this moment. He wasn't ready to get caught in this current state - not after they already had a similarly awkward encounter a few days earlier - and he clearly didn't want to talk with her about what had happened here.

Missing the touch of her skin almost immediately after their hands parted, feeling like a small part inside of him was missing, he got out of the bed quietly and sneaked to the door.

While he reached out for the door handle he paused for a moment and took a second to look over his shoulder. She was still lying in her bed and hadn't moved since he had left. Solely the image that was presented right in front of him induced a warm feeling in him and flooded through his whole body.

It was the first time he realized how intense all of this was, and though the sensation wasn't unpleasant at all, it made his head spin around with almost surreal speed. He wasn't used to this feeling, and what confused him was the fact that it made him feel sort of vulnerable. And that was something he was really scared of.

He has never been good at dealing with emotions, but he had never felt like he did right now before, so that frightened him even more.

But what terrified him the most was that he didn't want this feeling - that almost felt like weakness - to end.

Ultimately, he was able to avert his look from her and opened the door noiselessly. It closed with a small squeak, and finally outside her room - on neutral ground - Harvey let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He leaned against the door he had just shut and closed his eyes. Not sure what to do or think about everything he had experienced in the last few minutes, he tilted his head back and slowly ran his hands over his face.  
He felt empty inside, not knowing how to deal with everything that had happened and also missing the touch of a certain person, so he decided to take a shower to take his mind off all this.

Unknown to him, on the other side of the door Donna was already sitting up in her bed. She ran her hand through her hair and tried to gather her thoughts, to process what had just happened.

 _She was awake before him and pretty much the first thing she noticed was that their hands were entangled, their fingers intertwined. Normally her first instinct would have been to instantly remove her hand, but this time, with **him** , it was different. **Again**._

 _She didn't know - let alone let her mind totally **understand** \- why, but she enjoyed the feeling of his fingers between hers. The feeling of his skin against hers, even though it were just their hands. Though it felt like his palm and fingers set her own skin on fire, his warmth, his pure presence, had a calming effect on her._

 _When she felt that he was about to wake up she sort of panicked and pretended to still be asleep. She didn't want to be confronted with him right in that moment, she knew she didn't have a clue of how that conversation could possibly go. And she was pretty sure he didn't want to discuss this situation either, since they also never talked about the towel-incident. Or the events the night before that day, after they had come home dripping wet. Or in general anything regarding the topic of **them** , since it has always been sort of off-limits - mainly ascribable to her rule._

 _She sensed and felt all of his movements, even though she realized that he was trying to not wake her. When he started to graze over her hand so gently, his thumb running over her skin and barely touching her, it was like his finger left a trail of fire on her hand and she felt like her heart would explode and burst into thousands of pieces._

 _Although she missed the warmth of his hand holding hers the second he removed it, she also was a bit relieved that he had decided to leave her room. She wasn't sure how much longer she would have been able to stay fake-asleep with him affecting her that much._

 _After she heard the familiar sound of her door closing, she opened her eyes and blinked a few times before she got herself in an upright position in her bed._

She swallowed, leaned against the headboard and put her head back, before she allowed herself to think about what had happened here.

A lot of things crossed her mind in that very moment, but one thought was particularly present: _'Holy shit.'_

Her mind told her that she shouldn't be doing all of that. Enjoying this. Waking up next to him. His presence. His hand clasping hers. Her hand grasping his. _She had her rule after all._  
But she just didn't know how to change any of that. And she wasn't sure if she even wanted it to change.

* * *

 **So, like I said there's gonna be a little break now for this story, I'll hopefully be back when all my exams are over (that's approximately around the time when Season 8 premieres).  
And also after my exams I'm afraid that my updates are going to be a bit (ok maybe even very) sporadic, life and uni unfortunately don't always give me all the time I'd like to have for all the things I want to do. But I hope that you'll still read it when I come back with a new chapter eventually (I already apologize in advance for me needing ages to continue this story)  
**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter, and also the story itself so far! And as always: I'd love to hear what you think, so if you have time, you could make my day by** ** **leaving a review**!**

 **Chapter 7 preview: the can opener will be back**


	7. What to Do About It

**Sooo, looks like I'm (kinda) back from being a dead student. I ultimately planned to update sooner but I couldn't pick myself up to write for some time, I'm sorry for that. But this chapter is the longest one so far, I hope that's a small compensation for you having to wait so long.**

 **What I also want to say: HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who (still) read this story, and especially those of you who are leaving reviews! You always make my day with your words, and you make it a lot easier to continue writing when I'm struggling with some things (and I struggle kinda often). And I think you probably have no idea how stupidly a person is able to grin at a screen when they are happy about reading another kind review.**

 **I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! :)  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 - What to Do About It **

After the party they needed a few days to more or less get back in their normal rhythm. Luckily for them, no one had noticed that Harvey had slept in Donna's room instead of his own room that night. So at least they didn't have to deal with questions and comments from the other's, but "only" had to deal with the situation themselves.  
Their interactions had been a bit strange at first - _again_ , after they had just gotten over the other incidents - because they both didn't know how or if to address the more or less obvious change.

Harvey still assumed that she had been asleep all the time and had no clue of what had happened, so he wasn't eager to broach that matter since he didn't really have the urge to talk about it. And he also didn't want to sound like a pathetic guy who brings something like that up for no real reason, because after all nothing had really happened that night.

It was just an accidental, innocent touch, just their sleeping selves holding onto something that had been next to them. It didn't mean anything. They would have never done that while they were awake. At least that's what he was telling himself, and he already got quite convincing after some time.  
Also it ended as soon as one of them first noticed it. At least to his knowledge, and he never thought about the option that she could have been awake because it just didn't seem possible to him. It has never even crossed his mind.

And Donna knew that he had no idea that she had been awake the whole time, that she had even been awake _before_ him and had decided to not do anything about it. Because she hadn't wanted to pull her hand back. But she knew that she couldn't and shouldn't tell him _anything_ about that. She wasn't sure if she already understood by herself why she had done it.  
Also, she had no idea how she should talk with him about it without sounding pathetic. After all that wasn't something one could easily drop in a casual conversation. And moreover, it would make things between them even more complicated than they already were.

Both had realized that something had changed a bit, that there had been a slight shift in their relationship, but neither of them was going to acknowledge that fact. So they did what they did best, when it came to the topic of them: denying whatever emotions kept creeping up inside them and hiding everything somewhere deep down in their minds, trying to get over it to finally go back to normal. Whatever _"normal"_ was in their case.

After some time of basically avoiding each other they were finally able to do so again and more or less forget about the night - even though it probably was only for some time, but they thought it was better than nothing.

Mike and Rachel had proposed that the four of them could have dinner together at some point. They had noticed the slight change in Harvey's and Donna's interactions and thought that a collective activity would probably leaven the somehow tensed atmosphere.

Together they had agreed on cooking some pasta, and they had split the buying list so each of them could get a part of the groceries.

On the next Friday, Harvey was the first one to get home after his classes so he decided to already prepare everything. While he was standing in the kitchen, he heard a key being turned in the door lock. He lifted his head and tried to figure out who was coming home.

When said person came around the corner and into his range of vision, his face lightened up and his countenance grew soft unwittingly. "Hey," he greeted her with a small curl of his lips.

He was still a bit hesitant around her since the party, especially when he was alone with her. Waking up the next morning with her in her bed was a memory that was still etched into his brain, and for some time he had just been overwhelmed with everything he had felt back then. He had avoided coming too close to her, and they hadn't touched since he had removed his hand from hers. It wasn't like he didn't want to, but he was afraid that a single contact with her could become too much for him to handle.

"Hey," Donna retorted, mirroring his facial expression. But then she slightly creased her forehead, seeming to think about something. "I hadn't expected you to be home so soon."

He shortly chuckled. "Well, I always come home around that time on Friday, but I think you've never seen me that early before because normally _you_ get home a little later," he teased her with a challenging look.

Now her grin grew a little wider and she shortly dropped her gaze to her feet, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. "That's possible."

They locked eyes, lingering for a few seconds, just smiling at each other and cherishing the moment. Probably cherishing the moment a little more than they should, but in that moment they didn't care about that because no one else was around.

When they finally broke the eye contact she put her bag in her room only to come back to the kitchen a few seconds later. They started their work together in silence, but with a small smirk on each of their faces. They had never worked together in the kitchen before but they collaborated surprisingly well. Whenever one of them needed something, the other one already handed it over only a few moments later. Sometimes even without asking for it, but they just knew what they needed. Almost perfectly in sync.

Suddenly a thought from before came back to his mind again and a big grin started to spread all over his face. "You know what?"

"What?" She knitted her brows, not entirely sure what she should expect now from him. Especially with him having that mischievous smirk plastered over his face.

"It just occurred to me that for that can of sieved tomatoes we're gonna need a can opener."

"Oh really?" she pretended to be surprised, knowing that he had actually thought about that before. "I'm pretty sure that didn't just occur to you." She threw a look at him, with a raised eyebrow, very well aware of the fact that it would probably have him burst out laughing.

He only continued to have his signature smirk plastered all over his face, but slightly biting his lip to suppress the laughter that was bubbling up inside him. "Well, you're probably right, I may have thought about it before." He ended his sentence with an even bigger smirk than before, though Donna hadn't known that this was even possible. Then they simply fixated each other's gazes, both still grinning widely.

They hadn't noticed that the door had been opened about a minute ago, so they were a bit surprised when all of a sudden Mike and Rachel stood in front of them, making them flinch a little and interrupt their interaction, each of them taking a small step backwards to build up some distance.

The younger male slowly came a few steps closer, his girlfriend following a few steps behind him. He narrowed his eyes and knitted his brows in a mix of surprise and confusion. "Okaaay," he dwelled, still processing what he had just heard, "this is _definitely_ not what I expected to witness here."

Donna and Harvey both simultaneously rolled their eyes at their friend's comment, seemingly a little annoyed. Harvey was the one who then asked the question that both of them had in mind. "And _what_ exactly did you witness here?"

"A really weird conversation about a freaking kitchen utensil."

This time Donna was the one who answered. "That wasn't a weird conversation," she rolled her eyes again. "That's just something that happens when you share the custody for a little being." She tried to stay serious and keep her voice neutral but Mike's and Rachel's puzzled and astonished expressions, paired with their confused blinking, made it quite hard for her to not burst out laughing right away.

She was aware that her comment must have caught them off guard, she knew that nobody would expect something like _that_ as an answer. She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing, then she turned her head slightly in Harvey's direction, wondering if he managed to keep a straight face.

Right in that moment she heard his voice. "I thought that was supposed to be our little secret. I don't think he was ready for the whole world to find out about his foster parents." He tried to sound shocked and a little huffy but Donna could hear the entertained undertone loud and clear.

Now that she had her head fully turned towards him again she arched an eyebrow. "My bad," she deadpanned, but with an amused glint in her eyes.

Still lost for words, Mike and Rachel exchanged a baffled look, not knowing what was going on right now. They knew that sometimes their two roommates had their own language, speaking with each other in a way that no one else could possibly even try to understand. And sometimes that fact could be really confusing. Like right now in this moment.

But then they just shrugged and smirked, even though they didn't really have a clue of what was currently happening. They both were happy that at least the tensed atmosphere between the two of them seemed to be gone. Their two _"idiots"_ \- like the couple sometimes tended to call them when they knew that neither Donna nor Harvey were around - seemed to be back to their usual banter that could entertain a whole theater hall.

Then Mike clashed his hands together, disturbing the silence. "Okay, I'm sorry to interrupt that little exchange, but I'm actually quite hungry. So, how far are you two already?" He directed his question at Harvey and Donna, hoping that discussing something else would bring them back into the world where everyone else could understand what those two were talking about.

His plan turned out to be successful, he received an answer from Donna right away. "We're almost done, you and Rachel could set the table already. I think we'll be finished in a few minutes."

"Great!" He beamed at her reply, glad to receive such good news because he really _was_ on the verge of starving. Well, not _that_ literally, but close. He grasped Rachel's hand and sent her an adoring and affectionate smile. They walked over to the cupboard with the dishes and began to arrange them on the table.

When Donna and Harvey came over to the table, each of them with a pot in their hands, their two co-tenants were already sitting in their chairs, waiting expectantly for the food to finally arrive. They served out each of their portions, and just when they were about to start the dinner Donna remarked, "Just so you know, if it doesn't taste good, it's Harvey's fault." She sent him a devilish smirk and winked at him, making sure he wouldn't take it as an insult.

He wanted to protest but the other one's had already started to laugh, so he just sent his redheaded roommate a huffy glare before he also joined the laughter. He knew that she wasn't serious but he didn't want to make it too easy for her.

Then they finally started, and they enjoyed their dinner together. From time to time they laughed more than they ate, joking about some study colleagues, but also making fun of each other and teasing one another. That was mostly done by Donna and Harvey, but Rachel and Mike still had fun watching them.

At some point Mike almost choked on a noodle but luckily he managed to get it out of his esophagus eventually. So since nothing severe had happened this was just something else they could mock him with, and they all promised Mike to never forget about it but always rag him with that story.

After all of them had finished, they lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while, each of them lost in their respective thoughts, a faint smile on each of their faces. Then Donna lifted her head and looked to her three friends again. "You know what?"

She saw herself confronted with three pairs of questioning eyes, and since none of her friends pronounced the question loud she just resumed. "We should do something like that more often. The four of us together. Like, you could come to the bar again tomorrow."

The three addressed shortly looked at each other, shortly thinking about her suggestion, before they simultaneously nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Great," Donna smiled, "then it's settled."

—

They hadn't been there since the time Harvey had walked Donna home afterwards, but like they had promised, Harvey, Mike and Rachel came to the bar the next evening. This time it was more filled with people, and the three of them didn't get a table to sit down. So they got themselves something to drink and then ended up standing around a bar table in one corner of the room.

Last time Donna hadn't been able to make time at all to spend some time with them because she hadn't had a break, but this time she had some spare minutes and joined them for a drink. They fell into a comfortable conversation and enjoyed their time together, but then she also had to go back to work eventually and she left her three roommates at their table.

After she had left and returned to the bar, the three of them dived into another quite intense talk. At some point in between Rachel just stopped participating and watched her boyfriend and his best friend quoting movies like they do it for a living, and a wide grin spread across her face.

She then realized that she would have never believed that all of them would grow together as a group of such good friends when she first heard the news about Mike's best friend probably moving in. She had to admit, especially at the beginning she had her doubts. She was convinced that they would manage to live together without serious problems, but to be honest with herself she would have never dreamed that they would all get along so well.

She was happy and proud to say that their little living arrangement felt like a second family, at least to her but she was quite convinced that the others felt the same.  
Letting her thoughts linger for a moment, she noticed that her mind had completely driven off, so she focused back on the discussion her two roommates where currently having

A little later that night their conversation drifted a little off and eventually ran dry completely. They fell into a short silence before Mike nudged Rachel with his elbow. "Do you wanna dance?"

She accepted with a smile and they both finished their drinks before heading off to the small "dance floor" - that admittedly wasn't much more than a few square meters of parquet that were meant to be left free from tables and chairs - and leaving Harvey behind at the table.

Now alone, his gaze once again wandered through the room to eventually land on a particular redhead. Lips immediately curling involuntarily, solely at the sight of her, but his face suddenly froze when he noticed that she was caught in a seemingly quite intense discussion with a customer. He frowned and at first suppressed his protective instinct for his friend, but after a few seconds the conversation between Donna and the stranger seemed to heat up even more.

At this point something in him snapped and he walked towards them, his feet carrying him to her almost automatically. His jaw tightened and he clenched his fists, all of his muscles suddenly tensing. He knew he couldn't just walk up there and knock down this guy - neither she nor the other guests would appreciate that - but he had to get some of the suddenly built-up tension and aggression inside his chest off.

The surrounding around him blurred, his vision narrowed on the one thing that mattered to him in that very moment. He heard his heart thump almost aggressively against his ribcage, the sound of the pulsating throbbing inside him was the only thing he perceived in that moment. He knew he had to calm down, that he mustn't lash out. And he wouldn't do it. For his own sake because he didn't want to attract negative attention. But mostly for _her_.

He didn't even know what they were talking about yet but judging the look on her face it wasn't something she was a hundred percent comfortable with. Pressing his fingernails into his palms once again, trying to cool down some of his heated up temper, he finally arrived the arguing pair and breathed deeply before starting to talk.

"Is there a problem?" His voice was steady and calm, a complete contrast to the whirlwind that was really currently raving inside him. He had positioned himself nearest feasible to the counter where she was standing behind, instinctively getting as close to her as possible to be able to guard her. He didn't know where this sudden rush of protectiveness in his veins came from but to him it felt nothing but right in that very moment. And it also didn't feel completely unfamiliar since he had already reacted similar around her before.

He glanced to his side, to her, for the fraction of a second to make sure she was okay. Seeing that she seemed to be alright to a certain degree, he let out a small breath in relief before focusing back on his actual opponent of the conversation.

They guy that had been talking to Donna for the past few minutes turned around to face Harvey. It was clearly recognizable that he was already quite drunk, among others his bloodshot eyes and the lurching appearance were strong indicators for that. "And who the hell are you?" The fuzzy voice was almost impossible to understand at first but after some seconds Harvey comprehended what his counterpart was saying.

"I'm..." he tried to start to explain, but then all of a sudden he had some second thoughts about how he should introduce himself to the stranger. It was hard for him to come up with a proper description of what they were because it was something a bit different from everything else he had ever had in his life. But he wasn't sure if she thought about that the same way, so he tried to think of something appropriate.

"I'm Harvey, one of Donna's roommates." He finally settled on this rather casual description, knowing that she would very likely kill him - at least with some of her looks - if he had made a more possessive or suggestive declaration. Though he was aware that there were probably quite a few expressions that would definitely suit their relationship better and would be more exact, but weren't exactly what roommates - and not even _friends_ \- should be described with.

Harvey decided to at least keep up some of his bearings and offered his opposite a stretched out hand, carrying a slightly plastic smile on his face. On the outside he tried to appear calm and polite, he didn't want to start a fight or something, but inside he was seething.

Although he still didn't know what this guy was doing here - and especially what he wanted from Donna - but Harvey had sort of a bad feeling about all of this. He couldn't explain what it was but something seemed off. And also it didn't look like this was just a random customer who was hitting on her but more like it was someone she already knew.

The to him still unknown man slowly lowered his look to the offered hand, only to lift his eyes to meet Harvey's again, completely ignoring the gesture. So Harvey pulled it back, and during his motion the other started off with the conversation. "Then get the fuck away, I have something important to talk about with Donna."

His jaw tightened and in an attempt to stay calm he unobtrusively let out a breath through his nostrils, trying to not show his reluctance towards this guy too much. "She doesn't really look like she wants to talk to you right now." Harvey frowned, narrowing his gaze. Realizing now that this guy knew Donna's name, so he _definitely_ had to know her from somewhere else because the staff in the bar didn't wear name tags.

"Really? How do you think you know that?" His opponent had a derisive and arrogant attitude that took Harvey's whole self-control to not immediately let his fists speak what his mind was thinking.

"Well, we should probably ask her herself." Harvey constricted his eyes on the guy again and pressed his lips to a thin line, clenching his teeth in the process. He didn't trust him and he noticed that he instinctively disliked him more and more every second. And besides the fact that Donna hadn't seemed like she was really enjoying herself in the previous conversation with that dude, he just didn't want to let her alone with him again.

This time, Donna chimed in for the first time and glanced to her roommate next to her. "Harvey," she began, her voice steady but with a hint of a warning, "it's fine. Just -" She took a deep breath. "Just leave it. You don't have to worry about anything, I've got this."

He turned in her direction then, searching her eyes for any sign that what she just said was the complete opposite of what she meant. But he didn't find anything, quite the contrary, she had a silent plea for him to leave written all over her face - but that was probably only that easy to read for him because he knew her that well by now.

His ribcage tightened and something inside of him cracked a little. Slumping his shoulders a bit he felt a sting in his chest, almost forgetting to breathe for a moment.

 _'She doesn't want me here.'_

This realization slowly dawned on him, and he swallowed and coughed slightly, trying to release the pressure on his constricted throat a little. Before he slowly turned on his heels and started to walk back to where he came from, he threw another short look at her, making sure she was still okay. That it was really what she wanted.

He was almost out of hearing when a sardonic laughter reached his ears and he heard the guy make another snide remark about him.

Harvey only thought about letting that slip a split second before he abruptly turned around and closed up to the guy again, now standing face-to-face with him and staring him into the eyes. "What did you just say to me?" His low voice was cold as ice and the threatening tone clearly audible in earshot.

"Harvey," Donna raised her voice a bit.

The guy grinned maliciously and looked between her and Harvey, not seeming to be impressed by his actions. "Now she also has to fight your battles for you or what?"

"Okay, watch yourself," Harvey took another step closer and grabbed his opposite at his jacket.

"Harvey!" This time her voice was also filled with a warning. She sensed that he was getting closer to lose his control and lash out at the other eventually. "Don't. Please. Just leave him. I can handle it."

He averted his intense and angry gaze from the person he held at the lapels of his jacket to her. His raged temper cooled down a little at the pure sight of her, and when he saw the look in her eyes he swallowed hard and decided to leave his counterpart alone.

 _What he saw was a mixture of disappointment and anger._

He loosened the grip around the fabric and took a step back before letting his hands fall back on his sides.

 _He didn't want to disappoint her or give her a reason to be angry at him._

Breathing heavily, he only now noticed that some of the other guest were already staring at them, their little fight being the only relatively interesting thing going on in the bar at the moment. He lifted his gaze and met Donna's once again. He could see that she was sort of pissed at him right know, and he was fully aware that she had every right for that. He still saw the hint of disappointment and sadness cloud her green eyes.

He knew that he shouldn't have done what he had just done and he knew that he had royally fucked up. _Again_.

He hung his head and stared at his toes for a moment before he raised it again. He sent her one last apologetic glance, hoping that she'd understand and accept it. Then he turned around and headed for the door. He left without even looking back once.

Donna knew that she was a little mad at him right now, she didn't like that he had erupted like that. But she saw the look on his face before he had turned and walked away, and she knew that he felt sorry. That he understood that the decision he had made wasn't the right one. He basically apologized to her in one of the most sincere ways she had ever experienced - with nothing more than a simple look. There weren't many people who would be able to do that.

She had to admit, the conversation had become a little uncomfortable, especially towards the end of it she started to feel more and more uneasy. So a part of her was relieved that Harvey had decided to leave.  
She hadn't wanted to interfere too much in the exchange of the two men in front of her because she hadn't known how to act around them. How to behave with those two around her, knowing very well that none of them knew who the other was. Well, at least not the whole truth because the description "roommate" wasn't exactly the word she would use for Harvey. At least not the only one.

She hadn't planned for those two to meet tonight. Actually, she would have preferred if they had never met at all. But now it was too late for that anyway.  
It would have probably made some things less awkward than they were right now, because she knew that now she would have to do some explaining later. To one of them at least.

All those facts, thoughts and things cumulating to quite some huge emotions again, she felt a twist in her stomach when he practically ran out and didn't even give her a proper goodbye. Not even a look over his shoulder. Something he usually always did.

—

Outside the bar, Harvey paced up and down, taking some deep breaths, frustrated because of his own outburst and trying to calm himself down. When he heard that the door of the bar was opened again, he at first didn't even bother to look who was coming out.

"What the hell was that, Harvey?!" The confused but also a little annoyed voice of his roommate made him halt his movements and turn around eventually. He clenched his teeth and inhaled deeply before answering.

"Nothing, it was just -" He was still trying to understand his own actions himself, so he tried to downplay the scenario and wanted to come up with a reasonable explanation for all of this but he didn't get the chance to.

"Nothing? Well, I'm sorry but that didn't look like _nothing_." Mike scoffed and emphasized the last word. "You looked like you were on the verge of beating the shit out of him!"

Harvey averted his gaze and dropped his look to his feet, his best friend's eyes boring into his own were too much for him to handle in that moment. "I..." he sighed and exhaled. He didn't want to tell Mike the truth because he didn't even want to admit it to himself. But he knew that his friend wouldn't give up so easily, so he had to try to tell him enough to satisfy his inquisitiveness. "Okay fine, I may have overreacted a little. It's just -" He took a deep breath and raked his fingers through his hair. "It's already been a long day and I've had a hell of a week, so all of that was probably just a bit too much." He was aware that it wasn't an explicit lie, but it also didn't include even half of the truth.

He felt his friend's scrutinizing look more than he actually saw it before Mike finally responded. "Okay, I'll accept that. For now."

Harvey exhaled in relief, glad that he seemed to have survived this conversation - better said interrogation - but apparently it was to soon celebrate because then he heard his friend speak up again.

"But you have to stop doing that. Don't you think that I noticed that this whole thing was about Donna?" Harvey swallowed and his eyes flickered nervously, focusing on anything but his friend right in front of him. "I have no idea what's going on between the two of you, and I'm pretty sure that I don't _want_ to know that. But you have to sort out whatever's going on right now with you because you can't go on like this forever."

"I -" Harvey struggled for words before he admitted defeatedly, "I don't know if I can do that."

"Why not?" Mike frowned. He wasn't sure if he could follow his friend right now, his answer didn't make sense to him.

Harvey swallowed again. "Because I also don't know what exactly's going on. I just -" His hoarse voice broke for a moment. "I don't wanna lose her. She's become one of my best friends. And I also don't wanna make things in our apartment complicated."

Mike was a bit surprised that Harvey was so open about that, he usually was more cagey when it came to topics that involved emotions, but his face softened at this confession and he nodded reassuringly. "I get that. But still. Some day you'll have to face it and talk about it, whether you like it or not."

Harvey then sighed and averted his gaze again, fixating some point behind his friend. "Yeah, I know," he breathed. He was aware of the fact that everything Mike had just said was true. Even though he had never been person who was keen to face up on his emotions he knew that hiding forever from the "problem" wouldn't solve it or make it go away.  
At some point he would have to deal with all of it. He had to at least make clear to himself what this all was. What he wanted. What he didn't want. He needed to figure that out before he could talk about it with someone else. With _her_.

The younger pressed his lips to a sympathetic smile. He could only imagine what was currently going on inside of his best friend's mind. His relationship with Rachel also had had a rough start, and things weren't always easy between them, but Harvey and Donna seemed to have invented a whole different level of **difficult** and **complicated**.

"I think I'm gonna go back inside now." Mike pointed with his finger to the door behind him. "Are you going to come with me?"

Harvey looked at him, thinking about it for a second, but then he shook his head. "No, I'll go home. I don't want to ruin your night more than I already did." He tried to bring back some humor to the conversation, and he was partially successful.

A smirk played around Mike's lips. "Okay, bye. See ya tomorrow!" Then he turned around and walked back inside the bar. Harvey remained on his spot for a few more moments before he eventually sighed and also turned around, but in the other direction. He sighed and put his hands in the pocket of his jacket, starting to walk home for the night.

—

The next evening Harvey was sitting in his room over some books when he heard a small knock on his door. He lifted his head and turned it in the direction the noise was coming from, expecting the person to come in right after the knock because usually all of his roommates just barged in. But the door didn't move, so he invited - whoever was on the other side - in. "It's open."

Then the door finally swung open and revealed the person standing behind. The corners of his mouth involuntarily moved up a little by the sight, but he was still cautious. He remembered the last time they saw each other and it hadn't exactly been a positive last meeting. He had almost lashed out on that guy, and though he knew that it had been wrong he understood that she had been pissed at him in that moment. And probably still was. He couldn't blame her for that.

Donna returned his small lip curling with a bashful smile herself. Still standing in the doorframe, holding on to the door, she looked down for a moment before she began to speak, with a slightly wavering voice. "Can we, uhm... talk?"

He shifted on his spot, a slightly uncomfortable feeling creeping up inside him. He didn't know for sure what she wanted to talk about, but he assumed it was about yesterday evening. He wasn't directly in the mood to have a conversation about it because he didn't want to have to explain his reaction. But he knew that they would have to do it at some point, so now seemed as good as any other time. "Uh, yeah sure." He got up from his desk chair and swallowed shortly. "Come in," he offered, a shy smile scurrying over his face.

She stepped inside, closing the door behind her, remaining on her spot for a second and crossing her arms in front of her body. She didn't where to start, so she tried to sort her thoughts and then she cleared her throat before she began to talk. "I, uhm, I think I should tell you something about yesterday." She swallowed, because on the one hand she didn't want to have to tell him, on the other hand she couldn't wait to get that off her chest.

Guilt crept up in his chest and his countenance changed immediately to an apologetic expression, he suspected that she wanted to knock him into shape for his almost outburst yesterday evening. And he was preparing for her scolding him because he knew that he deserved it, at least a little.

"I -" she started but she broke off because she realized that wasn't the right way to begin. She took a deep breath before she could continue again, feeling his steady gaze on her. "The guy in the bar..." Dropping her eyes to her fidgeting hands she felt heat rise up on her cheeks. She knew it shouldn't be that way, that she shouldn't feel that way - so insecure - around him when it came to topics like that. But it just felt so strange to tell him because she was always afraid of his reaction, what he would think about her. Because to her it mattered what he thought about her. A lot. More than she would ever admit.

"...he was the last roommate we had. The one I told you about." After the words had left her lips she swallowed again and waited with bated breath for his reaction.

His face fell for a split second before it turned worried. He absolutely hadn't expected her to disclose _this_ , and all of a sudden he remembered that the two of them seemed to have fight. "Are you ok?" He asked with his low and soft voice, frowning sympathetically. He automatically put out his hand, wanting to reach for her arm to give her a little comfort. Something he always wanted to do when he saw that she wasn't completely fine. And right now she seemed far from being fine.

But then he realized what he was doing, and he swallowed hard before he stopped his movements in the air just to pull his hand back and let it fall down his side again eventually. Although he wanted nothing more than make her feel better, he knew that he shouldn't try to accomplish that by touching her. For his own and probably her sake. "You seemed to have a quite... heated discussion."

She had thought about almost every possible scenario, from him not saying anything at all to him downplaying everything and joking about it. But she never would have predicted _this_ reaction. Him actually worrying about her and genuinely asking if she was okay. Especially with _this_ tone of voice. The same he had used that night she told him about her ex, the night they had shared her bed...

Shaking all these thoughts off she forced a smile - a quite convincing one if one would ask her - before she replied. "Yeah, thanks." She shortly nodded. "I'm fine. It was -. It was nothing. Nothing you'd have to worry about. He was just really drunk, that's all."

Harvey scrutinized her for a few seconds, making sure that she really was fine. At least mostly, because he sensed that she wasn't telling the whole truth but he decided to not dig deeper into that. After all it wasn't exactly any of his business.  
The only thing that mattered was that she was okay. And it seemed like she was, so his face grew a little softer and a small smile played on his lips, a wave of relief flooding through his whole body. "Okay. Good to hear."

This time she retorted with an honest smile and shortly looked into his soft brown eyes before she dropped her gaze again, trying to suppress the light flutter in the pit of her stomach. _'Why does he always have to cause that kind of reaction?'_ she thought to herself for a moment before she inwardly shook her head and focused back on their conversation.

"I just thought you should know. I figured that you deserved a little explanation." She gestured with her hands, not sure what she should do next, if she could leave this awkward and slightly tensed atmosphere already or if she should stay a little longer and wait if he had to say something more.

"Thanks," was the only thing he said, still in the same position and with the same expression as before, genuinely appreciating the fact that she was honest with him and trusted him enough to tell him.

They lapsed into a short silence, none of them knowing what to say before she broke the quiet again. "Okay, I think I should go now. I don't want to hold you back from your very likely more important stuff."

She sent him a last glare before she turned around and left his room, closing the door behind her.

He looked after her for a few seconds, then he let himself sink down on his chair again. Remembering the little chat he had had with Mike outside the bar right afterwards, he knew that the talking about the events last night with her wasn't done yet, he knew that at some point he would have to say something about it, too. Apologize to her. Make some things clear. At least something. But the recent conversation was a start. Admittedly, a small step but it was better than nothing.

He wasn't sure if he should feel relieved about her revelation or if he should be a little embarrassed. On the one hand he was glad that he finally knew who that guy was, that he was finally able to put a face to the previously unknown person.  
On the other hand he knew that to the world it now seemed as if he had been jealous about her ex-boyfriend. And that wasn't something he wanted everyone to think because after all he had no reason and no right to be jealous. Because roommates didn't do that. Friends didn't do that.

Letting out a sigh and a deep breath he brought his focus back to the books in front of him. After all he had to study at some point, and even though he knew that some day he would have to deal with all of his thoughts he didn't want to do that right now. So he buried himself into work for the rest of the evening.

* * *

 **I'm a little unsure about this chapter, I went over it many times and changed quite a lot of things almost every time, but this was the outcome I'm the most satisfied with. So please let me know what you think, you'd make me really happy because it means the world to me to and I love to read all kind of feedback from you guys! :)**

 **As for the next chapter: I can tell you that I try to update as soon as possible, but I have no idea when that will be because I'll start my summer internship soon and I don't know yet how much time I'll have.  
And I don't really know what I should tease about it... does it count when I tell you that the title is ' _Another Time'_?  
**


	8. Another Time

**Hellooo, in case anyone remembers who I am: it's me again after much longer than I wanted and intended to... I didn't have much time (and my motivation was nowhere to be found for some time). I apologize for that. But your reviews were one of the main reasons I got my motivation back, so THANK YOU SO MUCH for every single word. Really means a lot to me.**

 **But now enough of my verbiage that I guess no one cares about. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter (despite the fact that it's shorter than the last ones), I'd love to hear your thoughts (or complaints, if you have any)!  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - Another Time **

Once again a knock on his door interrupted him while he was studying. He lifted his head to face the intruder and was greeted with a small smile on a face framed by auburn locks.

"Hey." Her warm and soft voice was enough to let a warmth spread in his stomach. A familiar warmth. A sensation he had already gotten used to over the last few... days? Weeks? Months?

He didn't even know it exactly when it all had started, he hadn't realized it immediately. He couldn't remember when it began, he just knew that _now_ it was always there when she was around. And though he was still cautious and a bit afraid of what that meant exactly - for him, for her, for their friendship - he wouldn't want to miss that feeling for the world.

So he softly beamed back at her. "Hey."

Then she started to fidget with her hands and dropped her gaze for a second. Harvey didn't say anything while he surveyed her but he clearly noticed her slight unease and nervousness. "Sorry that I'm barging in here but I wanted to ask you if you, uh, want to join me for a walk?"

He had already been surprised when she had shown up at his door, but he was even more astonished by her question now. He had expected a few things but he wasn't prepared for something like that.  
Usually he wasn't that much of a walker - he preferred running - but he was relieved that she had decided to still talk normally to him after the scene he had made a couple of days before. That she didn't ignore him or showed him in any other way that she was still mad at him or something. It seemed like they were on the track of being back to normal, so he gladly accepted her invitation with a sheepish smile and a small nod. "Yeah."

They hadn't talked about his almost riot since their last conversation where she had told him that the guy was their previous roommate. Her _ex-boyfriend_. The thought of that still made him clench his jaw and he felt a sting in the pit of his stomach.

On the one hand he wasn't proud of his actions because usually he wasn't the type to loose control so easily and lash out at other people.  
On the other hand, he wouldn't hesitate to do it all over again. This was about her, and though he would probably handle the situation a bit differently the next time, he wouldn't even think twice about doing anything to stand up for her.

They both grabbed their jackets before leaving the apartment, entering the elevator in silence. Leaning against opposite metal walls, they both had their hands buried deep in the pockets of their jackets. Each of them having their head tilted back, and both pairs of eyes fixating something on the ceiling. In fact, the didn't exchange a word and didn't even actually glance at each other until they arrived at the front door of the building.

"So, uhm, where should we go?" He asked her, letting his hand run through his hair to cover his slight insecurity. Hoping that she wouldn't see through his action.

But she didn't seem to notice it, looking to her left and to her right before she shrugged, hands buried in the pockets of her jacket. "I don't know, let's go over there?" She pointed with her chin in one direction. He only nodded and took a first step in the shown direction, she followed him one step behind until she caught up with him and walked next to him.

They paced in silence, not really knowing what to talk about since they both didn't want to approach the sensitive topic of his almost riot. Though they had already had the one little conversation about it, there were still some unresolved things they should probably talk about. But apparently neither of them was eager to do so or even bring it up.

So they just wandered along the streets, watching some cars pass them, letting the city sink in. They didn't know how long they had already been strolling when they eventually arrived at a park.

Turning their heads towards each other, they silently agreed on going inside with simply their looks and a faint smile, both in the need of seeing something different than the usual asphalt jungle.

The gravel path scrunched beneath their shoes, their feet taking them nowhere distinct but when they came across a small pond they simultaneously slowed down their pace. Realizing that, both of their lips curled up without the other's knowledge since they both had their gazes dropped to their toes. They smiled about the fact that they seemed to understand each other without saying anything. The presence of each other seemingly enough to comprehend what the other was thinking.

This was probably also the reason why their silence didn't feel uncomfortable at all. Because they didn't always have to talk to each other to understand each other. It was as if they had already known each other their whole lives.

When they finally arrived at the pond bank, they slowed down even more until they ultimately stopped their movements completely. Just standing there, taking the sight in front of them in. Sunset had just begun and the surface of the waters in front of them reflected the play of colors in the sky.

Harvey removed the hands from his pockets and let them fall down his side. At first he was thinking about taking some pictures but he didn't want to interrupt the atmosphere so he decided against it.

They were standing pretty close to each other but neither of them wanted to do anything against that proximity, they just relished the moment, the beautiful sunset, each other's presence.

At the beginning they didn't really notice but at once they realized that their hands were only inches apart since she had extracted her hands from her pockets, too. They felt the warmth radiating from the other's hand and they both subconsciously made slow movements towards the arm of the other. At first only their fingers brushed and surprised by the actual touch they both flinched and they parted again.

After a little break where they both weren't sure if it was just an accidental touch or not, Harvey decided to throw caution to the wind and finally blindly reached for her hand.

At first only his index finger brushed against the side of her hand, then he paused for a second, almost assuming that she would take her hand back. But contrary to his expectation she did nothing like that, so he let his palm softly graze against hers. Then he eventually took her hand, clasped it gently and let his fingers slip between hers.

It felt just like it did a few days ago when they woke up in her bed. It felt so familiar again. The same feeling of calmness, comfortableness and completeness. It felt like nothing could ever shake him as long as she was by his side.

With bated breath he waited for her reaction, not daring to look at her or say anything, too afraid that one of those things would ruin the moment and make her leave. If his previous action hadn't already been reason enough for her to turn around and run away.

But to his surprise - and immense relief as he noticed later - she didn't do either of that, she remained right where she was. Standing next to him, he felt her squeezing his hand lightly as a response and taking a fractional step towards him.

They didn't saw each other's faces because they were both focused on the view in front of them but they somehow knew that they both had a quite similar expression on their faces: a warm smile and soft eyes, just enjoying the presence of each other. Both having their heads slightly tilted towards each other.

To a passing stranger they must have looked like a young couple, chastely holding hands and watching the sunset - a typical storybook setting.  
No one would have actually guessed that they were so far away from being that - and yet so close.

They stayed a bit longer at the pond, not noticing how much time had passed since they had arrived. Time didn't matter in that moment, just the person next to them.  
But ultimately they turned around to walk home since the sky was now darkening with every minute.

On their way back to the apartment, at first they also didn't speak a word, but they hadn't parted their hands since they found each other at that pond in the park. Still holding on to each other like they were used to doing it every day. Like they didn't want to let go of each other. Like their worlds would crumble if they didn't have the other one by their side.

But then Harvey eventually broke the silence between them and mumbled a "I'm sorry, Donna". She held her breath for a second, stunned that he had decided to say something after all.

She instinctively knew that his words were about how he had behaved that day, knowing that she didn't really approve it. Well, the fact that he had defended her like that still elicited a flutter in the pit of her stomach but the way he handled everything wasn't exactly what she had expected or wanted.

But she also knew that his apology was about so much more, about every time he made her feel bad, made her feel uncomfortable, or just made her life a bit harder by just being _him_.  
She just really hoped his offered excuse wasn't about everything hat had happened today at the pond, or right now on their way home. She really didn't want him to tell her he was sorry about that. Because one should never apologize for the most memorable events in one's life.

—

Finally in their apartment block again, they knew that they had to part their hands eventually so they decided to do so during the elevator ride. Missing each other's touch and warmth almost immediately after the separation, but neither of them would ever admit that - at least not now in this current situation.

After they arrived in the flat, they got into their respective room only moments later, but not without giving each other a warm but also wistful smile.

These small goodbyes had become part of a ritual. A ritual they hadn't started on purpose but that had just sort of happened. Someday it had started as something small, it had only been an almost unnoticeable spark, but now they didn't even know what it was like without that.

The only exception was that night when Harvey had almost beaten up that guy. But that wasn't a memory worth remembering in that moment so he shrugged it off, trying to focus on something else.

Unfirtunately, that also turned out to be not the best plan to distract himself from what was really going on on his mind. His brain immediately went back to the topic that had been occupying his thoughts for quite some time now: Donna.

Exhaling deeply, he let himself sink down in his desk chair, folding his hands on his stomach and tilting his head back to stare at the blank ceiling. He was aware that he was already procrastinating this for the umpteenth time now, but he didn't want to have to deal with it right now. Some day the time will arrive and he was going to have to face it, but he decided for himself that today was not the day.

So he turned himself towards his desk, letting out a heavy sigh when he saw all the work that was still waiting for him. But at least he had something to turn his focus to now.

—

Later that day, when she lay in her bed, arms crossed under her head, eyes staring at the ceiling, a sudden thought overcame her. The thought of how she missed the company and warmth of another person next to her. But not only for the night. Not only _physically_.

Their walk today had made it clear to her once again that she truly missed the presence of someone in her life. Be it during the day when she needed someone to hold her hand or a shoulder to lean on. A person she could laugh with or talk to, or just sit there and say nothing at all. Someone who could calm her down when she was erratic. Someone who would make her feel safe when she was afraid.

Or be it at night when she couldn't sleep and needed someone to turn to. Someone who would hold her. Someone who's even breathing calmed her down and allowed her to finally fall asleep as well.

She thought about the last person she had experienced all of that _before_ the current one, and all of a sudden she felt tears forming in her eyes. ' _Harvey doesn't deserve to be compared to that heartbreaking piece of shit_ ', she thought to herself. He had done everything and so much more without actually _being_ that. She was aware that she had been the one who prevented them from being _that,_ but he did all of it anyway. _Everything_. Only for her. Sometimes without even noticing that he did.

She felt her throat constricting and her chest tightening, a small wave of guilt and yearning washing through her body. The thought of it alone was too much for her right now, she couldn't take it anymore, she had to do something. So she got out of her bed. When her bare feet touched the cold floor a shiver ran down her spine and cleared her clouded mind for a second.

Leaving her own room, she shortly thought about where to go but deep inside she had already decided which door she would go to. Knowing that Rachel wasn't an option right now.  
So she went to the only person she could think of right now to go to - admittedly the options in the apartment where quite restricted but she knew that she would've gone to him anyway, no matter how many other people would have been at choice.

She didn't really know what she was looking for. What she was expecting to happen, or what she _wanted_ to happen.  
She just didn't want to _talk_ about any of it, she just wanted to have another person near her. She didn't want to feel so lost and alone anymore. And given his usual enthusiasm about having conversations - especially ones that involved emotions or feelings - she knew he was pretty much the right person for exactly what she needed at the moment.  
One of so many other reasons. Another one - one of the most important ones - was that he was just _him_.

In front of his door she swallowed once and asked herself what she was even doing here. Asking herself if she was thinking straight. Wondering if he would be pissed or if she would interrupt him in something. But then she casted all of those thoughts off, gathered all her courage and gently knocked on his door before she quietly opened it.

—

Harvey was lying in his bed, arms crossed under his head and also unable to sleep at this very moment. There was simply too much going on in his head right now, and he couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened that day. That week. That time since he had moved in. Couldn't stop thinking about _her_.

Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly heard a small knock on his door and then noticed it opening with a small squeak. He lifted his head and looked at the person standing in the doorframe, or more precisely the silhouette of said person. He immediately recognized her contours and creased his forehead a bit. "Is everything alright?" he asked with a low voice and a hint of worry. It was already quite late and he was wondering if something had happened to her.

She slightly shook her head but her motions were almost imperceptible so he didn't notice it. She didn't bring out a word before she finally managed to say something. "Can I come in?" Her voice sounded broken and hoarse, and wasn't much more than a whisper. It was everything it took for Harvey to have all his senses tensed and sit up apprehensively in his bed. It almost physically crushed him to see and hear her in that state. So _hurt_.

"Sure." He tried to let his tone stay calming and soothing, an attempt to keep the fact that deep down inside he was more like the complete opposite of calm from her.

She slowly came in and closed the door behind her. She felt a bit uneasy and didn't know what to say or do so she kept standing there in front of him for a while, fidgeting with her hands. They remained in this slightly awkward silence, none of them dared to break the quiet. Then Harvey finally decided to disturb the stillness. "Do you wanna sit down?" he offered and gave her a warm smile, though he wasn't sure if she was even able to see it in the darkness.

Donna took a few more steps towards his bed until she was able to sit down on it. It didn't slip his attention that she took a seat as far away from him as possible. He swallowed thickly and inconspicuously wiped his hands on his sweat pants. He hadn't noticed before but the whole situation sort of overtaxed him, not knowing what was going on. And staying calm had never been one of his strengths.

Trying to ease the almost palpable tension in his room he nervously chuckled shortly. "I promise I won't bite." Then he chose a more assuring tone. He didn't want to scare her off. He didn't want her to leave. He didn't want her to be alone when she was apparently not completely fine. "But you can also stay over there if you want."

At first she didn't say anything, solely opening and closing her mouth again. Only then he noticed in the shallow light that her eyes were glistening. _That she had tears in her eyes._

Now he frowned in sorrow and sat fully up, carefully moving across his bed up to lightly touch her shoulder. At his touch she gave in and lost it, and her body started to tremble. He knew that she'd probably refuse but he gently pulled her to his chest nevertheless. To his surprise she didn't fight it but wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his T-shirt. She cried soundlessly and he felt her body shaking, which made him pull her even closer.

It stung in his heart to see her like this, and he didn't know if he would want her to cry out loud instead of her silent weeping. He felt the urge to protect her from everything and everyone, but he didn't know exactly how to do so. He tried to calm her down and let his hand move in soothing circles up and down her back.

A few minutes later she stopped crying, but didn't make a move away from him. He just held her, squeezing her lightly, but he didn't say anything. He knew that she knew he would give her time to speak, all the time she needed. And that he was also fine if she didn't want to tell him anything.

"Would it be okay if I stayed here?" she asked with a hoarse and breathy voice after some minutes of silence between them. Her warm breath brushed his neck and he shivered slightly. He just smiled and nodded. "Of course," his voice wasn't much more than a whisper, and he turned his head a bit so his lips almost touched the crook of her neck. One of his hand still resting on the back of her head, he inhaled and took in her scent but before he got completely lost in it he focused back on their current situation. He would never take advantage of her, especially not when she was in such a vulnerable place.

Then he began to carefully lie back again on his bed. Still holding each other, she ended up lying on top of him, he was lying on his back. One of her legs was lying beside him while the other one was resting on one of his, almost slipping between his two legs. Her head was resting right above his heart, her arms looped around his upper middle, her fingers digging in his shirt-covered back. She heard his heart thumping against his ribcage while he pulled her flush against his chest.

He never loosened his embrace once in the process of them lying back together. He could feel her weight on his thorax but it wasn't uncomfortable, in fact quite the opposite. They had never been in that position before but to him it felt like something they did every day, like their bodies were meant to be aligned in that way. It felt like a part of him had always been lost, but now he had found that missing piece. It seemed that for the first time in his entire life he felt complete, right there with her in his arms.

She pressed her ear closer against his torso and listened to the constant throbbing of his heart. The sound of the strong and regular beating, combined with his scent, had a calming and tranquilizing effect on her. It still took her some minutes but then she was finally able to fall asleep.

When he heard that her breathing had changed to a steady rhythm, he carefully lifted his head a bit and peeked at her, making sure she really was asleep. Only then he allowed himself to close his eyes and slowly succumb to a deep slumber, but not loosening his arms folded around her.

* * *

 **I hope you don't hate me for adding a little angst to the story (it wasn't that much tho; I certainly hope it wasn't too much?).**

 **I'm sorry that sometimes I change POVs in each chapter probably a bit too often, I hope it's not too confusing.  
Also I'm sorry if the whole setting at the lake was a bit too cliché, but I just HAD TO. And ******I'm still not sure if all of this makes 100% sense; sometimes it feels to me like this whole chapter is just full of trash, cliché and Darvey scenes (ok, the last one is absolutely true but I think that wasn't what I was trying to say).  
****

 **A little preview for chapter 9: it picks up right after this chapter, the next morning after the last scene.  
**


	9. What Happened Here?

**Chapter 9 - What Happened Here? **

The next morning, Donna slowly pried her eyes open and took a short look at her surroundings. For a moment she was confused to not see her familiar furniture, and also the bed she had just woken up in didn't feel like the one she was used to. But then she slowly began to remember where she was and what had happened.

She noticed an arm - _his_ right arm - wrapped around her waist, and she felt his trained chest in her back, sensing how it moved up and down in a steady rhythm and feeling his heart pounding against his ribcage. Against her back.

Then she bit her bottom lip and tried to suppress a smile. She had noticed how close she was pulled to him and how tight - but not uncomfortably - his hand on her stomach pressed her even closer to him. She felt his warm breath brushing the crook of her neck and a not unpleasant shiver ran down her spine.

She could sense the heat radiating from his body, and she wasn't cold although she didn't have a blanket. _'Not anymore,'_ she reminded herself, this time allowing her lips to form a small smile. She remembered him draping his blanket over them the night before, so either one of them had tossed it on the floor somewhen or he had claimed it for himself during the night.

The next thing Donna turned her focus to was the sound of his even breathing, which she had to admit had a calming effect on her.

A part of her brain yelled at her to run away from him immediately. To pretend that nothing had happened, like she had done the first time they had shared a bed.

But this time she didn't want to pretend anymore. After everything that had happened between them before, she didn't want to run away. At least not now, she wanted to stay a bit longer, enjoying and remembering everything about this moment. Because it could possibly be the first and simultaneously last time they ever did this.

She hadn't moved since she had woken up - mainly because she didn't want to wake him, but also because she knew she couldn't go anywhere with him holding her so close to his body. And he didn't seem to want to let go of her. So she stayed in his warm and almost protecting embrace until after a few minutes she felt him stir behind her.

His leg that was resting on top of hers - the one that was basically hooked around hers and held her in place - moved down, skin brushing against skin and leaving a trail of fire, and she felt him lay it on the mattress, just behind her own.

She held her breath and suddenly felt unsure about everything. Her heart rate accelerated a little and her thoughts began to circulate at high speed.

She didn't know how Harvey would react to all of this. Though she usually was quite good at predicting what other people thought and what they're going to do. But with him it was different. Sometimes she had the feeling that she could see through him, but then again he surprised her and caught her off her guard.

When she felt his hand loosen the grip on her waist a little she figured that they had to confront this situation anyway, so she decided to gently turn around to face him. Her heart kept thumping as if it wanted to jump out of her chest, and when she finally met his look it sort of skipped a beat.

They gazed into each other's eyes for a bit, until he finally broke the silence.

"Hey," his voice was still a little hoarse, like it usually was right after he woke up in the morning.

"Hey," she bashfully smiled at him.

They stayed silent for while again, with their eyes still locked. Neither of them was sure how to address their current unfamiliar situation. It wasn't like they hadn't woken up in one bed together before, but last time they were spared the talk about it.  
And right now they both didn't want to say or do anything wrong, so they didn't dare to make a sound and just stayed lost in their respective thoughts a little longer before she eventually cleared her throat to say something.

"Listen," she began, not really knowing how to tell him what she was about to tell him, "I'm sorry for yesterday. I shouldn't have -"

"Shh," he softly cut in with his low and still a little raspy voice, lifting his hand to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. He took the opportunity to let his fingers graze her cheek and linger a bit longer on her skin. "You don't have to apologize for anything. I've told you before, I'm always there for you. Anytime you need me." He gave her a reassuring and warm smile, looking her straight into the eyes. Then he let his eyes roam over her face, and only moments later his hand lightly stroke over her cheek again.

She blushed and dropped her gaze, not knowing how to respond to that. But he just put his finger under her chin and made her look back into his eyes again. He wanted to add something else but after he had opened his mouth he forgot what he had wanted to tell her.  
He just saw her green-brown eyes and got lost in those shiny orbs, then he shifted his look to her lips. Harvey repeated the motion of his eyes a few times and then felt how his head unwittingly leaned a bit forward, towards her.

She saw him inch closer, only a bit but it was still notable for her. One of his hands was now cupping her face, and she swallowed at the thought of what would probably happen in the next few seconds.  
Not that she didn't also want this - she did, and _damn_ , she would never admit to anyone how desperately she did - but she was afraid of how this would change everything.

She knew that them sleeping in one bed - _again_ \- had already changed a lot, not to mention all the other things they had said and. But it still wasn't as much as _this_ would affect everything. _Them_.

But despite all her concerns and qualms, she also felt herself move towards him. It was like some gravity drew them together, and they both couldn't help it or fight it - also they didn't want to fight it. Not anymore.

Their faces were only inches apart, their breaths already mingled and she had her eyes almost shut when all of a sudden they heard a loud knock from the door that interrupted them in their moment. That sound caused them both to cringe and move away from each other.

"Hey, Harvey." Mike's muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door. "Have you seen Donna? The door to her room was open and she isn't in there or the bathroom or anywhere else in the apartment, and she didn't leave a message. I'm kinda worried, she has never left like that before, and Rachel also doesn't know where she is."

The man standing in front of Harvey's room had absolutely no idea what was going on the other side of the door. Harvey ran his hand through his hair to compensate his nervousness. He watched Donna out of the corner of his eyes and saw her mirror his movement.

He wanted to say something but his throat felt constricted and he could only breath heavily. He watched her turn away from him and get out of his bed. This wasn't how this morning was supposed to turn out. Not at all.

Not that he had imagined anything specific, but _this_ was definitely not part of his expectation.

 _'Don't leave. Please. Don't.'_

He wasn't sure if he was talking out loud or only thinking it, but given the lack of her reaction he assumed that the desperate voice had only sounded inside his head.  
He wanted nothing more than those words spilling out of him, but they didn't. They kept being caged in his mind, repeating themselves on and on.

His friend on the other side of the door, waiting for a response, had already drifted to the back of his mind. He just wanted her to not run away already. He knew he should do something but it was like all of his muscles were paralyzed and he couldn't even move a finger.

He watched Donna walk towards the door, stopping shortly before she reached it and turning her head to face him one last time. She looked at him without saying a word, but her eyes spoke volumes. He could see the silent apology in her eyes, and his whole body tensed up because he didn't want her to apologize for something that wasn't even her fault.

He wanted to tell her that. Wanted to assure her everything was alright. He just wanted to do _something_ to comfort her.

But before he could do anything, she already opened the door and faced a speechless Mike who was standing in front of it. She didn't even bother to say anything, she only gave him a hasty glance before she passed by him and disappeared in her own room, closing the door behind her with a slam.

Mike was still tongue-tied and slowly turned his head towards Harvey, who was still lying in his bed, resting his weight on his elbows. The latter's gaze focused on something behind his friend who was still standing at the door. That something being the front of the closed door of Donna's room.

After a few more seconds Mike eventually managed to stammer a few words. "Did you -"

"No!" Harvey proclaimed with a hint of anger and annoyance in his voice, throwing death stares at his friend. He knew what he was implying, and at another time he probably would have just rolled his eyes and ignored him, being slightly pissed by the comment.  
But right now Harvey wasn't really angry at Mike. He was mad at himself, that he had let her go so easily. He would have wanted to say so many things but he just didn't know how. He has never been great with words.

He negligently threw his blanket aside, pushed himself up and got out of bed. He rushed by Mike, not daring to look in his eyes. He wasn't ready to have a conversation at this very moment.

Having no idea yet where to go, only knowing he couldn't stay inside his own room any second longer he was glad that he had decided to sleep in sweat pants and a T-shirt. He had to get out of there. Preferably even the apartment, because right now all he needed was some distance and time for himself to process everything. To think about it. Or not think about it. Either way, to clear his head again.

And what better way to do exactly that than going for a run, overstraining his whole body and letting the pain of sore muscles cover everything else he was feeling at the moment?

—

When he got back to the apartment, completely maxed out, he was glad that everyone appeared to be in their respective rooms or even somewhere out and he therefore didn't have to face anyone right away. Since he was especially determined to avoid _one_ certain person.

After a shower and change of clothes he decided to go back to his room. He didn't want to call it hiding from everyone but if he was being honest with himself he was doing exactly _that_.

Sitting in his bed, leaning against the wall and head tilted back, he was lost in his thoughts when he heard a knock on his door. He snapped out of his thoughts and tensed up. Remembering who had knocked on his the door the last few times he froze, swallowed and considered not answering at all for a few moments.

But then he figured that he couldn't escape it anyway so he cleared his throat and forced a croaky "Come in." out. His body didn't seem to have it in it to talk properly right now, but he still tried to fight that. He hated not being in control of anything, no matter if it was a situation, a decision or his own body.

The door slowly opened with a small squeak and images of copper hair showing up in his doorframe flooded through Harvey's mind.  
But instead of the expected red locks the person peaking through the constantly widening door crack had much more ruffled - and also much shorter - blonde hair. And a pair of familiar blue eyes.

A wave of relieve - stronger than he was ever willing to admit, even to himself - washed through Harvey at the sight of his friend, and he wasn't sure if the sigh that had suddenly built up inside him came out loud or if he had been able to suppress it soon enough. But if he was honest with himself, that was the tiniest of his problems right now. Because he was pretty sure that Mike didn't just randomly drop by to chit-chat.

"You busy?" the younger blonde carefully asked. Though he was fully aware that his friend didn't seem to have been doing anything else in the past few minutes than sitting on his bed and staring at the wall - maybe the ceiling - he still asked because he didn't know how else to start the conversation.

Harvey snorted quietly and shortly closed his eyes, a weak smile appearing on his face. "Does it look like I'm busy?" Though he was physically and also mentally drained and exhausted, and he knew that Mike had to notice that at least partially, he tried to keep up some of his usual dry sense of humor.

"Uhm..." Mike wasn't sure how or if to reply to that question.

"You don't have to answer that," Harvey chuckled, lips curling up a little more, "we both know that I'm not."

They fell in a short silence for a moment. Harvey wasn't really in the mood to keep the conversation going, and since Mike came to _him_ he waited for his friend to finally start with the intent he came to see him.  
In the meantime, Mike was trying to find the right way to start his apology. The reason he came to his friend's room in the first place.

"Hey, man, listen," Mike began eventually, "I'm sorry for... what happened this morning. I didn't mean to -"

"It's okay," Harvey cut in, clenching his jaw for a split second, a stern expression flickering in his eyes for a moment, "it's not like it's your fault."

A weak smile scurried over Mike's face. He knew that technically it wasn't his fault, but that didn't mean that he didn't still feel a bit bad about it. "So we're good?" His voice sounded hopefully and already cheerfully, almost teasingly again. But there was still a hint of hesitance and uncertainty in it. He wasn't sure if all of the waves between them had already been calmed.

Only now Harvey turned his head towards his friend, shortly pressing his lips together to eventually let the corners of his mouth turn up. "Yeah Mike, we're good."

One could almost see the relieve passing through the younger's body, and his eyes lit up a little. Then he paused for a second, remembering there was something else he initially wanted to ask. He was aware that this wasn't his place to ask because it essentially wasn't any of his business. But they both were his friends, so after a few moments of hesitation he cleared his throat and began to talk again. "And you and Do-"

"Stop right there." That came out harsher than Harvey initially had intended to but in that moment he couldn't feel really sorry for that. Sending his friend a warning glare in addition, he stood up from his chair, ready to leave. He obviously had enough of this conversation.

"But I was just wondering if -"

"Mike!" This time Harvey also raised his voice to emphasize his statement, an angrier expression than before setting on his face. "I really don't want to talk about it."

The addressed let out a small sigh and raised his hands apologetically, signaling his defeat. "Okay, okay," he appeased but with a slight bitterness in his voice, "I'll stop. Forget that I ever asked." After another short pause he added, "Oh and by the way, Rachel and I are going to stay with her parents over the weekend. I thought maybe you should know that you're alone with her this weekend. Just... just try to not kill each other, okay? I mean I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but please at least try to act like you're actual mature human beings."

With that he turned around and left Harvey's room. Leaving it's owner standing in the middle of it, unable to speak or move. When he finally woke from his rigidity again, he closed his eyes, exhaled deeply and ran his hands over his face. Only then the meaning of his friend's words began to sink. He was going to be alone with Donna for the weekend.

He knew that usually this shouldn't be much of a problem but due to their current situation it could get a little complicated. Given the fact that they haven't spoken to each other - well, not even _seen_ each other - since that morning because they were kind of avoiding each other's presence. At least that's what Harvey was willing to admit to himself, he couldn't speak for Donna but he realized that she also wasn't too eager to speak with him.

And now they had whole three days ahead of them. Alone with each other in the apartment. With no Mike or Rachel there as buffer between them.

But maybe that was also a good thing. Harvey was aware that sooner or later they'd have to talk about it, they couldn't just ignore what happened - better said _almost_ happened - between them forever. So probably a weekend without any distractions was a good opportunity to sort things out between them.

He let out an audible sigh and tried to shake off an unfamiliar heavy feeling in his stomach, a bitter sadness. Because despite how much he actually wanted to sort things out with Donna, he was afraid what that would mean for them. How it would leave them. How they would continue - or end their dynamics.

Even though he still didn't quite know himself what he wanted, although he was still afraid to admit to himself _what_ and _how_ he felt, and no matter how much he hated the vague and uncertain state they were currently in. Nothing would hurt him more than hearing from her that she wants to set an definite end to... _this_. Their situation. Their... _relationship_.

Thinking about that, a slight panic grew in him, spreading through his veins and clinging his heart like an ice-cold hand. He felt his breath hitch and tried to calm down a little. But in that very moment he just wasn't able to.  
Because given how their last encounter had ended, he was more than afraid this was the most plausible outcome of the scenario. And he didn't want to lose her. Only the thought of not having her in his life anymore terrified him more than he was able to admit.

—

The remaining days until Friday went by without any incidents, and both Donna and Harvey managed to avoid each other until that day. The communication in their apartment only went through Mike and Rachel, and they were kind enough to not say anything about that slightly awkward situation at the moment.

When the couple left, Mike called for Harvey one last time - with Donna not yet home there was no risk that Harvey would run into her at that time - the younger blonde made his farewells for the weekend, but not without giving his friend a meaningful glance. "You have to do something about it. Whether you like it or not," he told Harvey insistently. He only responded by nodding shortly, with a weak and faint smile on his face, while he opened the door for his two roommates.

Already outside, Mike turned around one last time and added, "And it's better to do it sooner than later."

At his words Harvey swallowed shortly, and then slowly closed the door behind his two friends. He knew that Mike was right. With all of what he had told him only minutes ago. And also earlier that week, when he came to apologize for that morning. The morning that was the cause for these somewhat complicated circumstances.

But if he was being honest with himself, that wasn't the whole truth. That wasn't the beginning of this whole mess, it was only one of many factors. There were so many other things that happened between them, small ones and bigger ones, and all those memories and experiences added up to what they were now.

They had become friends over the time. He had to concede that this friendship with her was different than all the others he had ever had in his life, had been different right from the very beginning. Still, that didn't change the fact that they had become close friends. Sometimes they had probably even been more than that for a few moments.

But now he just had no idea anymore what they were.

—

A few hours later, he stepped out of his room, lost in his thoughts and not paying full attention to his surroundings, on his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water and stretch his legs a little after sitting in his room almost the whole evening. All of a sudden he heard a familiar noise and his head shot up in surprise, caught off guard. He watched the door opposite his own open like in slow motion, revealing the person behind it.

Donna's wince when she saw him was almost imperceptible but Harvey still noticed. By now he'd notice almost everything that has anything to do with her, because he had gotten used to paying a lot of his attention to her.

They just stood there for a few seconds too long to let this be a normal surprised encounter, before they realized how close they accidentally ended up. They both took a small step backwards to bring some distance between them before one of them found their voice again.

"H-hey," she mumbled coyly, flicking her eyes up to his before she averted her look again. Then she swallowed, waiting for him to say something.  
She hadn't reckoned to see him today because she had been trying to avoid him for the last few days - and since she hadn't met him at all she figured that he was avoiding her as well - so now she was more than blindsided by this accidental almost run-in. And by the look on his face, he also hadn't expected this.

His throat bobbed when he swallowed, and then also greeted her with a shy smile. "Hey." His voice and countenance softened immediately after he had overcome the first moments of shock. Despite how much seeing her had taken him by surprise, he was more than happy to finally see her again.

With their gazes still trained on each other they let some seconds lapse away, neither of them moving an inch or saying something.

Then he eventually dared to break the silence, wanted to take the opportunity to have _the_ talk with her. The one he had planned for this weekend anyway. The one he wanted to have. And at the same time was dreading to have, more than anything else in this world.

But he cleared his throat and braced himself for the upcoming interlocution. Or fight, depending how it would turn out. "Listen.. uhm, I know we never had the chance to, uh, talk about what... what happened that morning..."

She chuckled quietly, "Yeah, that's true. But that's probably because you weren't so eager to see me at all." _'Shit,'_ she thought to herself. Well, damn. That wasn't supposed to sound like that. Like he was the only one to blame. That conversation was already beginning to take a very wrong turn.

He snorted shortly, "Excuse me? _You_ 're accusing _me_ of ignoring you? So you're saying this is all my fault?" He raised his voice a bit. "I can't remember _you_ ever coming up to _me_ or trying to speak with me, after you left that morning. I mean, you basically ran away after Mike knocked!"

"I didn't run away!" She tried to recover, but somehow she knew he wouldn't believe her lie.

"Really? So how'd you call it then when someone leaves a situation without saying a word and doesn't even acknowledge it for several days?!" He deadpanned, crooking an eyebrow at her.

"I'm sorry that I might have hurt your _feelings_ \- if the mighty Harvey Specter even possesses something like that - but I thought you'd actually prefer never losing a word about this again. I mean, come on! Everyone knows you, Harvey!" she laughed bleakly, ignoring how much it stung in her heart to accusing him of not having any emotions.

A part of her was afraid to continue talking because she was terrified of yelling something in the heat of the moment she doesn't actually mean. Something that would probably hurt him, even more than she already has. But now that everything had started, the words seemed to spill out of her and it looked like she couldn't stop them. "You're not exactly known for being the sentimental kind of person. Or for being relationship or _boyfriend_ material."

Her last sentence slipped out before she even realized and for a split second she froze, afraid that she had said or revealed to much. But thankfully for Donna he seemed to ignore it and just continued.

"Oh _thanks_ ," he scorned dryly. Her statement hit him hard, it hurt more than he would ever reveal to the outside. But he tried to ignore the pain, not wanting to show her how much she affected him. "So I'm only good enough when you just happen to decide you could need me? Like that evening for example?"

"That's not -" Her voice broke off and she couldn't finish her sentence. Maybe she had been wrong before. Maybe she wasn't ready for this discussion - or whatever the hell it was they were currently having.

"That's not what? _Fair_?" He spat out and laughed dryly. "Do you think it feels fair to me that you seem to have such a _high_ opinion of me?"

The sarcasm dripping in his voice felt like a knife cutting through her flesh. Her eyes began to sting and she tried to ignore the fact that her field of view had begun to blur because of the tears welling up. She didn't see his intense gaze anymore but she could almost feel it burning on her skin.

She didn't want to start crying in front of him. _Not again._ And especially not during their current argument. So she did the only thing she knew would prevent the tears from falling down: Hiding her hurt behind anger and sarcasm.

"Well, I'm not the one who slept with half of the students running around at the campus." Her snappy comeback was probably a little below the belt line and also harsher than she would normally react, but in that moment she didn't think about that.

His head shot up in astonishment and he frowned. "So that's what this whole thing is about?" Now his voice was surprisingly calm.

He hadn't been aware of the fact that _this_ was what seemed to bother her so much. He hadn't even known that she knew _that_ much about him. About what he now already considered as his past because he wasn't doing that anymore. Not since he had moved in. Not since he had met _her_.

A few moments passed with neither of them saying anything. She knew that he was waiting for a response, but she didn't answer. She couldn't. She couldn't without admitting something she never wanted to admit. Not to herself. Not to anyone. And _especially_ not to the person this whole thing was about.

But her silence was answer enough for him, she didn't have to phrase the words for him to understand. He took a small step towards her and waited for her to meet his gaze again, then he continued with his soft voice.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I'm not that same person anymore? That I don't care about all the others?"

The air around them seemed to thicken and heat up with every second, adding up to an almost palpable tension. She swallowed under his earnest and firm stare, his raw and honest words making her forget how to breath for a moment.

Then she looked straight back into his eyes and what she saw hit her like a ton of bricks. Nearly black pools that seemed to be filled with heavy emotions and unspoken words. And a vulnerability she had never seen on him before. Not even on anyone else.

She forgot what she was about to say, overwhelmed by what he had just shown her with his eyes, but she found her voice again eventually. With her alarmingly fast heartbeat drumming in her ears she swallowed and responded with a low and raspy "Maybe?"

* * *

 **First of all: Please don't hate me too much for ending with a (kind of) cliffhanger like that. I'd like to hear your thougths!  
**

 **Next, I want to apologize for me needing that long to continue this fic. You probably think I'm neglecting my story, but I can tell you that I'm not.**  
 ** **I fully intend to finish this fic, but it might take me a while. And** I don't know how long it will take me to finish the next chapter, but I hope that all of you who are still here will read it.  
**

 **Oh, and I know that some time ago I said that there would be around 9 chapters... Well, this was the ninth and it (obviously) wasn't the last one. I don't know yet how many more there will be, at the moment I'd say roughly about 2 to 4? (But please don't strangle me if this number isn't correct, like I said I'm not 100% sure yet where and how long this story will go.)**


	10. Something New

**Since it's been way too long (again) since my last update (I'm really sorry for being that slow, I know that almost half a year is quite a long time) I put the last few lines in this chapter again (the text in bold and italic), i** ** **n case anyone has forgotten how the last chapter has ended**. I know the chapter is shorter than usually but nonetheless have a good read!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10 - Something New**

 _ **"Would you believe me if I told you that I'm not that same person anymore? That I don't care about all those other girls?"** _

_**The air around them seemed to thicken and heat up with every second, adding up to an almost palpable tension. She swallowed under his earnest and firm stare, his raw and honest words making her forget how to breathe for a moment.**_

 ** _Then she looked straight back into his eyes and what she saw hit her like a ton of bricks. Nearly black pools that seemed to be filled with heavy emotions and unspoken words. And a vulnerability she had never seen on him before. Not even on anyone else._**

 ** _She forgot what she was about to say, overwhelmed by what he had just shown her with his eyes, but she found her voice again eventually. With her alarmingly fast heartbeat drumming in her ears she swallowed and responded with a low and raspy "Maybe?"_**

His eyes shifted from her eyes to her lips again with every heartbeat. He was breathing heavily and his throat felt constricted. He felt the familiar flutter and warmth in his stomach and then he couldn't stop himself anymore. He raised his hands, gently placing the left one in her neck and the right one on her cheek, softly caressing it with a slow stroke of his thumb. He paused for a fraction of a second, searching her eyes to look for anything that could make him stop.

He didn't find anything, on the contrary, she had a silent plea in her darkened eyes, pupils slightly dilated. He came closer and eventually softly slanted his lips on hers, shutting his eyes in the moment they met, but he didn't dare to deepen the kiss. He didn't want to push her, and even though she hadn't made any kind of counteraction when she had plenty of opportunities to do so, he was still shit-scared that he'd do something wrong. That he had misinterpreted everything. That he would end everything. That he would screw up like he usually did. _She had her goddamn rule after all._

But she didn't wait long until she responded to his kiss and enhanced the pressure against his lips, slowly moving her hands up his upper body. He could feel her fingers scraping over his chest, even through the fabric of his T-shirt, and it felt like her fingertips left a track of fire on him. Her hands ended up wrapped around his neck eventually, and she then parted her mouth because she could already feel his tongue brushing over her lips. A small moan escaped her when their tongues finally met, and she could feel how his lips twisted to a smirk. He obviously seemed to be proud of himself that he was the cause for her reaction, but only a few seconds later it was him who let out a groan and it was her turn to grin into the kiss.

It seemed like almost everything between them was a constant fight. But not with the goal that one of them won. It was about the battle itself, them challenging each other. Because there were quite some thing they were good at together, and that was definitely one of them.

When they finally parted, they rested their foreheads against each other, not wanting their proximity to end right know, and they could feel each other's warm breaths brush over their cheeks. His hands were placed on her waist, gently pulling her as close to him as possible, and her hands rested on his shoulders, her palms almost burning his skin, even through his shirt.

Suddenly, he began to chuckle nervously out of nowhere and she pulled her head backwards to look at him with a quizzical and wondering expression on her face. Her voice was still low and a little hoarse when she asked him astoundedly, "What?"

"Do I have to move out now?" He cautiously drew his hands back and lifted the right one to scratch the back of his head. He phrased his question half-jokingly but inside he was actually extremely nervous and anxious of how her answer would turn out.

Her countenance softened at his question, and she drew her bottom lip between her teeth to stop herself from grinning at him being so adorable in his own way. She realized he was scared that she would tell him to leave because of her rule. She thought to herself that that was actually quite cute but she would never tell him that. Knowing that at first he would be offended by her calling him that, but then he would never stop teasing her with it.

She lowered her gaze to look at the space between them, then she took one of his hands eventually, entwining her fingers with his and squeezing his hand lightly. Then she raised her look back up to his eyes before she answered with a soft smile. "No," she whispered, and she felt him exhaling in relief and relaxing his tensed muscles.

Harvey let the information sink in for a few moments, then a huge grin started to spread across his face. He held her look for another second before he captured her lips again, this time more passionate and bruising.

His fingers slowly wandered south, lifting the hem of her shirt slightly and grazing the skin beneath it. She shivered slightly, and Harvey felt goosebumps forming on her skin. Simultaneously, Donna already hauled on the hem of his shirt and guided him slowly backwards in her bedroom. He reacted equally, gently pushing her backwards, towards her bed.

He still remembered the last time he was in her room, the awkwardness of the situation back then. He was glad that had changed, and this time he didn't have to promise to not even think about touching her.

—

The next morning, when the first rays of sunshine found their way through the window, Harvey slowly woke up with a familiar scent in his nose. At first he wasn't able to place it, and his brain was still quite sleepy and slow, but then he remembered. With his eyes still closed a small smile began to form on his lips, and a flood of happiness run through his whole body at the thought of what happened last night.

A small part of him still couldn't believe all of this really happened, so he slowly opened his eyes and gently turned around. When he finally saw Donna lying next to him, sleeping peacefully, her red manes spread across the pillow, he felt another flutter in his stomach. He looked at her for a few minutes, not able to train his gaze away from her yet, and still hardly believing his luck.

He thought about the other two times they had shared a bed. It had been similar in some ways but yet so different in so many ways. This time, there was no awkwardness in waking up next to her, no uncertainty about what they want or not want. Also, this time he felt her warm skin against his own, he only in his boxer shorts, her wearing a tank top and shorts.

When he felt her beginning to stir, his grin grew even wider and he gently moved closer to her. She was lying with his back turned to him, so he lifted the blanket a little and wrapped his arm around her waist. He tenderly pulled her backwards against his chest, pressing a soft kiss against her head and deeply inhaling her scent. Then he mumbled a husky "Morning beautiful."

Donna reached for his hand on her waist and interlaced her fingers with his. After a small squeeze of his hand, she turned around in his embrace to face him, shyly smiling up to him and answering with a low voice, "Morning."

After gazing into each others eyes for a few seconds, with the happiest grin on both of their faces, Harvey raised his hand and put a strand of Donna's hair behind her hair. She slightly blushed at his action and wanted to lower her head, but Harvey hindered her motion by putting his fingers under her chin and gently directing her head back up to him again.

"You know you don't have to hide," he whispered softly, with a smile on his face.

She swallowed shortly before answering. "Yeah, I know," she began, "I just never realized how cute you can actually be." She finished with a huge smirk.

A small laughter escaped his throat. "Well, I didn't know either," he said, "I guess this has to be your fault then." With a wide grin he winked at her.

"Oh, well then I guess I have to apologize," she retorted with a similar expression on her face.

"Nah, it's okay. I like having someone around me who thinks I'm cute," he smiled widely. Then he gently stroked her cheek and slowly leaned towards her, placing a soft kiss on her lips. When he opened his eyes again he looked straight into hers and whispered with the most sincere expression and voice she has ever witnessed, "And I won't ever let you go."

Donna felt a sting in her eyes, overwhelmed with his words and her own feelings. Her throat was constricted and she knew she wouldn't bring out a word, even if she tried. So she just kissed him back, putting all her emotions in it, hoping he would understand that for her it was exactly the same. Hoping he would understand what she felt.

Then she wrapped her arms around him, feeling the sudden urge to just hold on to him. When she felt him hug her back tighter, keeping her even closer to him, she knew that he understood. And in that moment she felt as happy, safe and loved as never before in her whole life.

—

After they had the entire rest of the weekend for themselves without their two other roommates being there, they managed to keep up appearances and not let Rachel or Mike notice that something has changed. Donna had asked Harvey to not tell anyone yet, she didn't want anyone to know at the moment, so that they could keep what they have for themselves a bit longer.

At first Harvey didn't seem to be very happy about her request but then he agreed, he'd do anything for her after all. And he definitely didn't want to loose her so he decided to accept what she asked from him.

On a rotation basis they slept in her or his room, and they sneaked out quite early in the morning so that the other two tenants wouldn't notice anything. This plan worked quite well because both of the other couple were long sleepers and so they never crossed path with one of them. The actually more problematic time was during the day, especially in the afternoon when all four of them where at home and spent time together.

Even though Harvey and Donna tried to keep a low profile there were some changes in their behavior and interactions. The changes weren't really obvious for someone who didn't pay a lot of attention - like brushing hands while passing each other, standing and sitting closer next to each other while cooking or watching TV or hidden looks they give each other - and apparently they were subtle enough that neither Rachel nor Mike noticed anything or became suspicious about anything.

About a week later, Harvey had just opened the door of Donna's room and stepped outside. He let out a small yawn, ran his hand through his hair and then half-turned around to silently close the door. When he turned back and wanted to take a step towards his own room he suddenly noticed that Mike was standing in the hall, staring at him with an opened mouth and widened eyes. Harvey immediately froze on the spot and swallowed.  
 _'Damn.'_ Then his mind was completely blank, and he was just waiting for his friend to finally find his voice again.

"Did you just -" Mike blinked in surprise, not trusting his senses completely due to his currently still quite tired condition. "Did you just come out of Donna's room?"

* * *

 **Okay, I know that it's a bit mean to end another chapter with a cliffhanger - after I let you wait so long since the last chapter. But I have to say that I've written the ending scene a while before the rest of the chapter, and I wanted to make a cut at this point. I'm sorry for that, but I'm excited to tell you something else: The next chapter is going to be tha last one, so this fic is actually going to come to an end!** **I don't know yet when I'm gonna have time to finish writing the final chapter, but I hope that I'm going to get to writing it during my summer break at the latest.**

 **Until then: HUGE thank you to all of you who read, review and enjoy this story, it always makes me feel so happy when I see people enjoying what I write, it really means a lot to me!**


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